Last week’s column answered an array of readers’ questions and prompted some more of you to send in some queries and insights. I welcome your comments and questions each week at the email address below, as each of these readers thankfully did. The questions have been edited for clarity and length.

My husband and I recently took a car trip to Florida and enjoyed being able to use our Peach Pass to get through McDonough quickly. On the way home, however, we were caught in a logjam of cars and trucks inching along to Atlanta. There were no accidents and yet it added about 35 minutes to our trip home. What is the deal with that?

-Kathy Golden

I’m not sure if you are the person to write but needed to vent to someone.  On Saturday, June 12th, my family was driving from Macon to Atlanta in the late afternoon. About 50 miles outside of Atlanta, the traffic became stop-and-go all the way to town. The worst part was that the Express Lanes going north were [pointed] southbound with no one on them because there was no [slow] traffic going in that direction.  Does no one monitor the traffic to see where those lanes are needed the most? All of this made the usual eight hour trip from Florida more than 10!!!

-Ann Ligon

First, Ann - the line is always open here for you to vent. Email away!

Kathy and Ann claim to have sat in a combined 2.5 hours of delays on their trips on the infamous I-75/northbound trip from Macon to Atlanta. ‘Tis the season. The biggest contributor for these jams is likely the increase in freight traffic, as the Port of Savannah takes on more business. Combine that with people en masse making up for lost vacation time during COVID and taking a corridor that’s designed to carry far fewer vehicles and the recipe for annoying jams is complete.

As for the Express Lanes, people at the State Road and Tollway Authority (SRTA) and GDOT monitor those lanes 24/7. The lanes are on a set schedule during the week to reverse to and accommodate the rush hour flows. However, traffic patterns are extremely unpredictable right now. Weekday afternoon rush hours often find I-75/northbound stacked from Locust Grove through McDonough, while the Express Lanes are pointed south. If officials changed the lanes’ direction on those weekdays, then I-75/southbound would instead be a mess. Truthfully, that area needs even more capacity, despite having added the two Express Lanes four years ago.

I recommend flipping to 95.5 WSB or the WSB Radio App when approaching Metro Atlanta and using our Triple Team Traffic Alerts App to gauge whether taking I-75 or using Highway 42/23 as an alternate is better.

Doug, I really enjoy your traffic columns. Lately it seems like there are traffic jams every day on I-75 in Marietta, both north and southbound, and I am not talking about rush hours. What is going on?

-Gary Furman

I-75 in Cobb, Cherokee, and Bartow counties is experiencing a lesser version of what commuters on the south side are: more freight and more travelers. There are just seemingly random waves of volume and delays along I-75 between Cumberland and Cartersville. I-75 serves more Americans than I-85 and I-20 do, so it invites more commuters and more freight. But designers made I-75 there with that in mind, given it has twice the capacity in Cobb than in Clayton and Henry.

Finally, the increase in freight traffic adds more weight to I-285, which backs up I-75/southbound’s right lanes from Marietta, at times.

Does the GDOT allow any flexibility in the schedule to reverse the direction of the one-way Express Lanes on I-75? When an incident causes multiple lanes to be backed up for hours, the toll lanes could, in theory, be turned around, off-schedule to ease congestion. What is the minimum turnaround time? Doesn’t it take them a couple of hours normally?

-Bill Brockman

The state budgets about two hours to flush and reverse the lanes, though I have been told that can happen in 45 minutes. Most wrecks clear faster than even the shorter window to change the lanes’ direction.

Now, for weekend construction, the state has made adjustments to when the lanes point a certain way, because road work closures are long-lasting and are not during rush hour. But SRTA Executive Director Chris Tomlinson told me earlier this year that their research shows that regular users of the lanes bank on a routine and the state tries very hard to not interrupt that.

My wife and I are noticing more roundabouts in metro Atlanta. However, we aren’t sure when/if to use a turn signal while navigating them. My question for you: What are the laws for using turn signals in a traffic circle in Georgia?

-Emmett Mullins

I instinctively put on my signal anytime I turn anywhere, just in case. Roundabouts are one-way (counterclockwise), so technically a signal is not needed when entering them. When preparing to exit a roundabout, GDOT recommends turning on the right turn signal as you pass the previous exit, so proper warning is given to people behind.

We have one of those pedestrian crossing lights on Moreland/Little Five Points. After a pedestrian pushes the crossing button the lights go thru a sequence of flashing yellow, solid red, then blinking red, before going off. Can drivers proceed thru the intersection on the blinking red after coming to a full stop if the pedestrians have completed their crossing? Seems like that would be how a blinking red light at an intersection would be handled, too?

-Terry Moy

Great question. If no lights are on these special pedestrian signals, such as the HAWK signals several cities have installed, then traffic proceeds normally. If yellow lights come on, that means vehicles cross the crosswalk slowly. The flashing red lights mean that drivers can proceed after coming to a full stop. All of this, of course, is presuming that pedestrians are not actually in the crosswalks.

Essentially, the yellow lights are telling pedestrians that cars have the first dibs at the crossing and any kind of red light is telling drivers that the walkers have first dibs.

And, yes, a flashing red, stuck red, or dark traffic signal means to stop before advancing. If all directions are either red or completely out, then it is a four-way stop.

Doug Turnbull, the PM drive Skycopter anchor for Triple Team Traffic on 95.5 WSB, is the Gridlock Guy. He also hosts a traffic podcast with Smilin’ Mark McKay on wsbradio.com. Contact him at Doug.Turnbull@cmg.com.

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