For the litany of reasons to be upset about the happenings of the recent presidential debate here in Atlanta, the traffic implications of such a bonanza may rank low. The outcome of the philosophical showdown between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump brought enough angst on its own. But people should not forget the White House’s handling of bringing both the president and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden to Atlanta. Their stuttered arrivals were not only maddening, but also highly hypocritical.

Atlantans knew for weeks that Biden and Trump would verbally slug out their differences on CNN at the Warner-Discovery Midtown campus on Techwood Drive off of 10th Street. June 28th quickly approached and with it would come the inevitable heightened security and eventual rolling road blocks. Police shut down 10th Street and the I-75/85 ramps to it all day that Thursday.

The sitting U.S. president, vice president, and first lady always bring full road closures for their motorcades. Their arrivals, which come often in this now-purple state of Georgia, also bring varying flight restrictions (which limit or eliminate the coverage of our WSB Skycopter). These visits also prompt the state, at the command of the Secret Service, to disable the 511 GDOT streaming cameras that both the public and traffic reporters alike can use to track traffic.

In turn, in some of the most heightened times that reporters like yours truly need both vital aerial and visual tools, we don’t have them. So we dread these kinds of days.

But the last Thursday of June hit differently.

The media is never made privy of the exact route that a motorcade will take, but we can generally ascertain it, given the airport and the destination. Early in the week, we knew President Biden would arrive at Dobbins AFB in Marietta in the mid-afternoon. We later learned former President Trump would land at a private hangar at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport after 5 p.m. We were also fairly certain that Trump’s motorcade would not bring entire, prolonged interstate closures, since he is not currently in office. And both candidates would be Midtown-bound, with the debate set for 9:30 p.m.

The arrival of both heavy hitters and the necessary security that would surround the Techwood studio would guarantee major interruptions to traffic into the heart of Atlanta, particularly between Cobb County and Downtown, at the start of P.M. drive. Many commuters took note and planned early departures or work-from-home days. They were smart.

The real fumble by the Biden Administration came with a Wednesday announcement that First Lady Biden would also join her husband in Atlanta - but she would arrive separately and about an hour later.

Sure enough, President Biden and Air Force One arrived just after 3 p.m. that Thursday. Georgia State Patrol completely shut down I-75/southbound from the South 120 Loop (Exit 263), allowing the long Biden motorcade to enter via Delk Road. GSP soon blocked off I-285 in both directions at I-75 (Exit 20) in Cobb, flushing the route of as much traffic as possible. As the motorcade passed inside I-285, our alternative WSB Jam Cam stream showed I-85/southbound shut down north of 17th Street (Exit 84).

Annoying as this is, the Secret Service got Biden and his advisors fairly efficiently to Midtown. People were stuck for longer than they wanted to be, but all closures finished by roughly 3:40 p.m. No aforementioned route was closed for that entire time. But the delays after the initial roadblocks lingered for a while.

In the 5 p.m. hour, the Trump arrival south of town only caused limited closures. The Secret Service escorted the presumed Republican presidential nominee in the HOV lane of I-75/85/northbound and into Midtown. GSP and GDOT HERO units did close the I-20 ramps to I-75/85 and some other adjoining roads to the Downtown Connector. But they were neither as intrusive or extensive as the Biden closures were - which we predicted.

In the hour between, however, First Lady Biden landed from a campaign event in another state. After 4 p.m., GSP did the same song and dance on I-75 and I-285 in Cobb. But the state and the Secret Service shut down these freeways for significantly longer than they did for President Biden.

People on I-75/sb complained to the 95.5 WSB 24-Hour Traffic Center about being stuck on I-75/sb for over an hour. The wall of stopped traffic stretched back to I-575 - over five miles. I-285 both in the Cumberland area, I-85/sb and GA-400/sb from Buckhead, and adjacent side roads cooked in the second wave of motorcade closures for far longer than they did an hour earlier, baking in the Georgia summer heat.

When rush hour was at its worst, the White House and the Secret Service took their time. And it was completely unnecessary.

Political leaders rightfully champion for the environment. We may all disagree on the solutions (or even existence of) for eco-problems. But there is no doubt that driving and flying both cause enormous air pollution. The Bidens and the Democratic Party consider this a major issue. However, they not only decided to ferry two faces of their cause in separate jumbo jets to the same spot, just one hour apart, they also prompted double the amount of traffic-paralyzing closures that left vehicles idling for far longer than necessary.

The Bidens should have come together to Atlanta, the capital of a national swing state.

With enthusiasm for the current administration sagging as badly as I wore my jeans in middle school, the Biden brain-trust made an unforced error in the worst possible place. Their debate travel tactics trapped thousands of commuters in Georgia, a state they barely won in 2020.

We experienced this same madness four years ago. Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence bungled Atlanta traffic numerous times during the 2020 campaign - and during the volatile weeks leading up to the Senate runoff races. The roadblocks often came during rush hours. A Pence motorcade even went the wrong way on Black Friday in 2020, making the horrendous interruption that busy travel afternoon even worse.

Lodging these complaints are not a statement by me on what any candidate or party stands for. Political activism is not my lane. Travel lanes are. And there is no more unifying issue than frustration in slow traffic. Angst about motorcade gridlock, with a dash of overt hypocrisy set the table for what became a disastrous debate night for the incumbent.

Traffic backups are nowhere near most voters’ issue bingo cards, but almost everyone gets mad when they get stuck. These same drivers get told, on behalf of Mother Earth, to carpool, conserve, and work remotely by the very people who flew in separate airplanes and shut down those drivers’ routes twice in two hours. That is no way to win trust or votes in Georgia in November.

Doug Turnbull, the PM drive Skycopter anchor for Triple Team Traffic on 95.5 WSB, is the Gridlock Guy. Download the Triple Team Traffic Alerts App to hear reports from the WSB Traffic Team automatically when you drive near trouble spots. Contact him at Doug.Turnbull@cmg.com.