The Day We Lost Atlanta

How 2 lousy inches of snow paralyzed a metro area of 6 million.

By REBECCA BURNS January 29, 2014

 

On Tuesday, snowfall of just over 2 inches shut down metropolitan Atlanta’s roads, schools, churches, government offices and businesses. Thousands of flights were cancelled at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. More than 2,000 school children were separated from their parents, and spent the night in buses, police stations, or classrooms. It seemed that the only places open were Waffle House and Home Depot, the former serving hash browns and coffee and the latter opening up its stores as makeshift shelters. People who didn’t camp out in supermarket aisles and hotel lobbies were trapped in cars for 10, 16, 20 hours as they tried to make commutes that normally take just 30 minutes.

 

Surely to everyone else in the world, the staggering sight of one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United States brought to a standstill by a few flurries seemed comical at first. Oh, those Southerners, they don’t know how to drive in the snow! Indeed, as I tried to get home from work Tuesday evening, my tires spinning uselessly in an icy patch just yards from Peachtree Street, a trio of tourists snapped camera-phone pictures and laughed. I’m sure my Honda’s enshrined on someone’s Facebook page with a witty caption. Inevitably, people began to compare the gridlocked cars heading out of downtown Atlanta to the Walking Dead poster, Southerners trapped by a “snowpocalypse” instead of the zombie variety.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/01/atlanta-snow-storm-102839.html

There simply are no equipment, resources, or manpower devoted to snow removal in Atlanta. And two inches is more than enough to stop the average vehicle, especially if it is falling and melting into ice on contact. And I understand the mass transit system in Atlanta was effectively shut down because operators could not get to work. It was a freakish occurrence, but it is difficult to plan for them. Now if it happens again this month during what forecasters are predicting as a heavy snow February people may start to get a little more excited.

MARTA's rail system continued to operate throughout the storm and afterwards.

http://www.examiner.com/article/latest-marta-weather-updates

 

Atlanta is the poster child for America's urban sprawl problem. Ironically, if you look at Shell Oil Co.'s and General Motors' City Of Tomorrow dioramas from the 1939 New York World's Fair, they look almost exactly how Atlanta and other sprawl-topia cities look today. Congrats GM, Shell Oil, and others. You got your wish -- the most dehumanizing urban clusterf*ck ever imagined so you can sell more stuff.

 

Shell Oil advertisement, 1930s

 

GM Futurama, 1939 New York World's Fair

I actually go to Atlanta a lot, and the sprawl in traffic is indeed a nightmare. There's a lot of hope for the future, though. They have a downtown streetcar loop under construction along with a light rail/ bike paths/ walking paths loop that encircles the whole city called the "Belt line." They were even hoping to add some street car connections to it as well. Actually, even with their sprawl, I'd say Atlanta is making a lot more progress transportation wise than my hometown of Cleveland is...

 

Unfortunately, the suburbs farther from the city always vote down extending MARTA out to it for, ahem, "crime" reasons....If only the entire region could actually see the benefit of expanding the train system to actual locations people live. Atlanta is close to being a really great city.

I always use MARTA from Hartsfield Intl to Downtown/Buckhead etc. Nice system.

I actually go to Atlanta a lot, and the sprawl in traffic is indeed a nightmare. There's a lot of hope for the future, though. They have a downtown streetcar loop under construction along with a light rail/ bike paths/ walking paths loop that encircles the whole city called the "Belt line." They were even hoping to add some street car connections to it as well. Actually, even with their sprawl, I'd say Atlanta is making a lot more progress transportation wise than my hometown of Cleveland is...

 

Unfortunately, the suburbs farther from the city always vote down extending MARTA out to it for, ahem, "crime" reasons....If only the entire region could actually see the benefit of expanding the train system to actual locations people live. Atlanta is close to being a really great city.

 

 

They had good rail ridership with 70,506,800 riders in 2012. Cleveland had 9,095,700. They also do pretty well with ridership per mile, beating out San Francisco, Baltimore, and Philadelphia.

 

I might have missed something, but I don't really understand the title of the thread.

 

 

The MARTA system has the downtown subway that every lesser transit system wishes it had, and the overall system average speed is high.  But the stations in suburban areas are not positioned so as to encourage TOD's, and the old heavy rail technology means the lines are horrendously expensive to extend as compared to light rail. 

The MARTA system has the downtown subway that every lesser transit system wishes it had, and the overall system average speed is high.  But the stations in suburban areas are not positioned so as to encourage TOD's, and the old heavy rail technology means the lines are horrendously expensive to extend as compared to light rail. 

 

I'll agree to this and the system will not be extended because people don't want public transporation in the 'burbs.  This system and the Washington Metro system were built around the same time.  but ATL system has big park and drive lots at the other stations but have very few bus connections.

I might have missed something, but I don't really understand the title of the thread.

 

Because when people would rather sit in their cars than walk to the MARTA station where trains were still operating, these folks were either transit-illiterate or they have a dysfunctional obsession with their cars. Given how Atlanta is one of this nation's posterchilds for car-dependent sprawl, these car-potatoes only enhanced the city's stereotype by preferring to freeze and starve in their beloved cars than walk to a restaurant or store or hotel or even head for home. If nothing was in walking distance, then this only underscores the dysfunction of sprawl. I loved and sympathized with the reaction from Europe, where they had a good laugh over the incomprehensible actions of us silly Americans in furtherance of our car addiction.

I might have missed something, but I don't really understand the title of the thread.

 

Because when people would rather sit in their cars than walk to the MARTA station where trains were still operating, these folks were either transit-illiterate or they have a dysfunctional obsession with their cars. Given how Atlanta is one of this nation's posterchilds for car-dependent sprawl, these car-potatoes only enhanced the city's stereotype by preferring to freeze and starve in their beloved cars than walk to a restaurant or store or hotel or even head for home. If nothing was in walking distance, then this only underscores the dysfunction of sprawl. I loved and sympathized with the reaction from Europe, where they had a good laugh over the incomprehensible actions of us silly Americans in furtherance of our car addiction.

 

Well per my employees in ATL and people I know, MARTA isn't customer friendly.  In order to use MARTA you'll need to drive to a station, that is problem No. 1.  Then when you get to your destination station, you'll still need to walk a great deal to get to your final destination, problem 2.  Example if I live in Buckhead and I work at the Ernst & Young.  I've got to drive to the Lenox or Buckhead stations, wait for a train, then exit at either Civic Center or Peachtree and walk a long way to my office.  I've also got to travel at certain times as the Red Line stops running the full route after 8PM.  In addition, outside of the downtown stations - which have no parking, the majority of stations have very limited free parking and the rest of the spaces you have to PAY to park.  Here in Cleveland, parking at all stations is FREE!

 

So for ATL residents it's probably easier to drive and park.  Now their bus system is horrible.  I have to say, Cleveland's bus system coverage is very good compared to many cities and substantially better than Charlotte, ATL, Miami, Houston, New Orleans, Memphis, Baltimore, Tampa, Detroit and Minnie.  Also their buses don't act as a good feeder system to the rail system.

I might have missed something, but I don't really understand the title of the thread.

 

Because when people would rather sit in their cars than walk to the MARTA station where trains were still operating, these folks were either transit-illiterate or they have a dysfunctional obsession with their cars. Given how Atlanta is one of this nation's posterchilds for car-dependent sprawl, these car-potatoes only enhanced the city's stereotype by preferring to freeze and starve in their beloved cars than walk to a restaurant or store or hotel or even head for home. If nothing was in walking distance, then this only underscores the dysfunction of sprawl. I loved and sympathized with the reaction from Europe, where they had a good laugh over the incomprehensible actions of us silly Americans in furtherance of our car addiction.

 

Well per my employees in ATL and people I know, MARTA isn't customer friendly.  In order to use MARTA you'll need to drive to a station, that is problem No. 1.  Then when you get to your destination station, you'll still need to walk a great deal to get to your final destination, problem 2.  Example if I live in Buckhead and I work at the Ernst & Young.  I've got to drive to the Lenox or Buckhead stations, wait for a train, then exit at either Civic Center or Peachtree and walk a long way to my office.  I've also got to travel at certain times as the Red Line stops running the full route after 8PM.  In addition, outside of the downtown stations - which have no parking, the majority of stations have very limited free parking and the rest of the spaces you have to PAY to park.  Here in Cleveland, parking at all stations is FREE!

 

So for ATL residents it's probably easier to drive and park.  Now their bus system is horrible.  I have to say, Cleveland's bus system coverage is very good compared to many cities and substantially better than Charlotte, ATL, Miami, Houston, New Orleans, Memphis, Baltimore, Tampa, Detroit and Minnie.  Also their buses don't act as a good feeder system to the rail system.

 

It's important to note that the state does not give a penny to MARTA, unlike more civilized parts of the country.  As such its operations are still supported by the exact same level of taxation that was enacted back around 1970.  That's why you have the damn line shut down at 8pm.  It's the Republicans making things not work so that they can embarrass the Democrat-controlled city. 

 

The complete opposite situation is in Baltimore, where locals pay absolutely nothing directly to the Baltimore subway or light rail.  It's all Maryland funding because Maryland was needed to fund the suburban areas of the Washington Metro.  If Baltimore were to pass a local transit tax, they could build something pretty impressive.

 

 

 

I might have missed something, but I don't really understand the title of the thread.

 

Because when people would rather sit in their cars than walk to the MARTA station where trains were still operating, these folks were either transit-illiterate or they have a dysfunctional obsession with their cars. Given how Atlanta is one of this nation's posterchilds for car-dependent sprawl, these car-potatoes only enhanced the city's stereotype by preferring to freeze and starve in their beloved cars than walk to a restaurant or store or hotel or even head for home. If nothing was in walking distance, then this only underscores the dysfunction of sprawl. I loved and sympathized with the reaction from Europe, where they had a good laugh over the incomprehensible actions of us silly Americans in furtherance of our car addiction.

 

People all over the country have been indoctrinated with the automobile culture. It's all they know and transit is outside their comfort zone and an abstract idea at that. That driving is in decline is all the more remarkable in the face of this one dimensional focus.

I might have missed something, but I don't really understand the title of the thread.

 

Because when people would rather sit in their cars than walk to the MARTA station where trains were still operating, these folks were either transit-illiterate or they have a dysfunctional obsession with their cars. Given how Atlanta is one of this nation's posterchilds for car-dependent sprawl, these car-potatoes only enhanced the city's stereotype by preferring to freeze and starve in their beloved cars than walk to a restaurant or store or hotel or even head for home. If nothing was in walking distance, then this only underscores the dysfunction of sprawl. I loved and sympathized with the reaction from Europe, where they had a good laugh over the incomprehensible actions of us silly Americans in furtherance of our car addiction.

 

Well per my employees in ATL and people I know, MARTA isn't customer friendly.  In order to use MARTA you'll need to drive to a station, that is problem No. 1.  Then when you get to your destination station, you'll still need to walk a great deal to get to your final destination, problem 2.  Example if I live in Buckhead and I work at the Ernst & Young.  I've got to drive to the Lenox or Buckhead stations, wait for a train, then exit at either Civic Center or Peachtree and walk a long way to my office.  I've also got to travel at certain times as the Red Line stops running the full route after 8PM.  In addition, outside of the downtown stations - which have no parking, the majority of stations have very limited free parking and the rest of the spaces you have to PAY to park.  Here in Cleveland, parking at all stations is FREE!

 

So for ATL residents it's probably easier to drive and park.  Now their bus system is horrible.  I have to say, Cleveland's bus system coverage is very good compared to many cities and substantially better than Charlotte, ATL, Miami, Houston, New Orleans, Memphis, Baltimore, Tampa, Detroit and Minnie.  Also their buses don't act as a good feeder system to the rail system.

 

It's important to note that the state does not give a penny to MARTA, unlike more civilized parts of the country.  As such its operations are still supported by the exact same level of taxation that was enacted back around 1970.  That's why you have the damn line shut down at 8pm.  It's the Republicans making things not work so that they can embarrass the Democrat-controlled city. 

 

The complete opposite situation is in Baltimore, where locals pay absolutely nothing directly to the Baltimore subway or light rail.  It's all Maryland funding because Maryland was needed to fund the suburban areas of the Washington Metro.  If Baltimore were to pass a local transit tax, they could build something pretty impressive.

 

 

 

Thats because the state nor residents wanted MARTA

I live in Atlanta - MARTA is ok in the city, but barely extends beyond it and suburban counties are hugely populated without little transit options. It's a mess and the ice storm exposed this, but really any normal traffic days highlights Atlanta's problems. Many assume it's normal sprawl, but it's much worse than that.

I might have missed something, but I don't really understand the title of the thread.

 

Because when people would rather sit in their cars than walk to the MARTA station where trains were still operating, these folks were either transit-illiterate or they have a dysfunctional obsession with their cars. Given how Atlanta is one of this nation's posterchilds for car-dependent sprawl, these car-potatoes only enhanced the city's stereotype by preferring to freeze and starve in their beloved cars than walk to a restaurant or store or hotel or even head for home. If nothing was in walking distance, then this only underscores the dysfunction of sprawl. I loved and sympathized with the reaction from Europe, where they had a good laugh over the incomprehensible actions of us silly Americans in furtherance of our car addiction.

 

Well per my employees in ATL and people I know, MARTA isn't customer friendly.  In order to use MARTA you'll need to drive to a station, that is problem No. 1.  Then when you get to your destination station, you'll still need to walk a great deal to get to your final destination, problem 2.  Example if I live in Buckhead and I work at the Ernst & Young.  I've got to drive to the Lenox or Buckhead stations, wait for a train, then exit at either Civic Center or Peachtree and walk a long way to my office.  I've also got to travel at certain times as the Red Line stops running the full route after 8PM.  In addition, outside of the downtown stations - which have no parking, the majority of stations have very limited free parking and the rest of the spaces you have to PAY to park.  Here in Cleveland, parking at all stations is FREE!

 

So for ATL residents it's probably easier to drive and park.  Now their bus system is horrible.  I have to say, Cleveland's bus system coverage is very good compared to many cities and substantially better than Charlotte, ATL, Miami, Houston, New Orleans, Memphis, Baltimore, Tampa, Detroit and Minnie.  Also their buses don't act as a good feeder system to the rail system.

 

It's important to note that the state does not give a penny to MARTA, unlike more civilized parts of the country.  As such its operations are still supported by the exact same level of taxation that was enacted back around 1970.  That's why you have the damn line shut down at 8pm.  It's the Republicans making things not work so that they can embarrass the Democrat-controlled city. 

 

The complete opposite situation is in Baltimore, where locals pay absolutely nothing directly to the Baltimore subway or light rail.  It's all Maryland funding because Maryland was needed to fund the suburban areas of the Washington Metro.  If Baltimore were to pass a local transit tax, they could build something pretty impressive.

 

 

 

Thats because the state nor residents wanted MARTA

 

Fulton County and DeKalb counties voted for the 1% MARTA sales tax in 1971.  They were awarded the HUGE federal grant that was originally awarded to Seattle.  Seattle lost it because their local sales tax lost a supermajority vote (for whatever reason, west coast states are big on supermajorities to raise local taxes -- California is still that way). 

 

 

 

 

I-85 overpass collapsed today in Atlanta, just north of Midtown:

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/bridge-collapses-atlanta-freeway-fire-during-rush-hour-n740871

 

This will block commutes from I-85 AND Georgia 400.  This should be MARTA's brightest moment, since its two north branches parallel these two highways. 

If you look at the Streetview under the bridge, there are a bunch of huge coils of pipe (PVC according to the article) stored there. PVC is not really all that flammable compared to most building materials (and has a pretty high ignition point)... but if that was indeed PVC it's pretty clear that once it gets going it definitely does burn! There's a photo here that shows the early stages of the fire:

 

http://www.ajc.com/news/local/things-know-about-the-fiery-bridge-collapse/Rtw9PdbyFBoWchJPESywzJ/

Amazing.  If it had been more spread out, a fire would have been limited to one or two stacks of this "coiled material". 

 

It looks like they're going to have to replace at least two sets of pillars and three sections of overpass, not just the section that collapsed. 

 

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution had a photo of a MARTA train today -- all the seats filled but nobody standing!  I guess a ton of people just plain didn't go to work today. 

^ I wonder if some new regulations about storage of materials under overpasses will come out of this. There are codes that require sprinklers in warehouses, parking garages, and canopies of a certain size but we have cars parked and other flammable materials stored under overpasses all over the country. As we saw here, a fire can smolder for a long time in a setting like this before anyone notices it.

As I predicted as an armchair engineer, they are replacing three spans, not just the span that was destroyed.  GDOT expects to have the highway reopened in both directions by Jun 15.  They are planning to use a more expensive concrete that strengthens faster.  There are also other gimmicks floating around like the county giving free MARTA passes to employees...AND JURRORS. 

 

In other news, highway lobbyists are using the event to promote expansion of Atlanta's beltway.  They somehow tricked the local media into publishing this plant story:

http://www.myajc.com/news/local/how-bridge-collapse-atlanta-perimeter-would-worse-than/KvRE1Vuty7TTyoHBSsKUuI/