Solving the state's metro traffic woes

At the first of three town hall meetings Wednesday night, commuters met with law makers and elected officials.

Their message … do something … anything … to make it easier to get around the state’s metro areas.

Experts say around the state, traffic is backing up and tempers are flaring.

At Wednesday’s town hall meeting, one doctor spoke of treating patients, stressed from their daily commute.

But doing something about all that traffic isn't quite so easy, says former state representative Matt Towery.

Towery's group ... Insider Advantage ... polled voters and lawmakers.

Turns out, traffic isn't all that sexy to either group.

“When politicians see the polls as to what the most important issues are, traffic doesn't normally come up as the number one issue. That has a real effect on the degree of time and effort they want to put into dealing with that issue.”

One other idea that's gotten a lot of buzz is a statewide SPLOST to fund transit and traffic improvements.

Towery says the idea is a good one, but says counties without the congestion of Georgia’s metro areas aren’t likely to chip in for something they can't use.

The next town hall meeting will be held Wednesday, March 28 at Clayton State University.

Tornado cleanup causes massive Atlanta traffic problems

Commuters heading into Atlanta today are dealing with massive traffic backups as the city cleans-up from tornado damage over the weekend.

Traffic on at least two of the major interstates heading into downtown Atlanta was backing-up for several miles late this morning. Numerous street closures and dozens of traffic light outages across the city are causing drivers to look for alternate routes, or be stuck in long backups.

The city is in cleanup and repair mode following a destructive tornado that cut through Friday night. The twister was the first in recorded history to slice through Atlanta’s downtown. It struck a tourism district around the Centennial Olympic Park, and hit nearby neighborhoods in its 6-mile path.

Damage includes blown-out windows on high-rises, buildings with walls torn away, and a loft-residence complex with a completely collapsed roof. The city’s main convention center took significant damage.

Officials say early damage estimates in the city total at least 150-million dollars.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the tornado and the aftermath.

State Patrol predicts 20 holiday traffic deaths

The Georgia State Patrol is predicting 20 traffic deaths on Georgia roads during the 102-hour New Year's Day holiday weekend that begins Wednesday at 6 p.m. and ends at midnight Sunday.

Lieutenant Paul Cosper of the Georgia State Patrol says speeding is a big culprit:

"People don't leave that safety zone. They'll get to traveling at speed and they'll tailgate, and next thing you know; somebody applies the brakes, and somebody's not paying attention, and we have a wreck."

Cosper estimates there will be more than 3,000 accidents and over with 1,300 injuries.

Last year during a 102-hour holiday period there were 2,109 accidents with 1,250 injuries and 22 deaths.

The national “Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest.” campaign begun December 19th also concludes this weekend.

But Department of Public Safety officials say troopers will be out in force making spot sobriety checks.

The Department of Public Safety website will update the holiday period traffic count every six hours.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of traffic issues statewide.

'Big rain storm' marches west

Bands of heavy rain continued to march west across South Georgia this afternoon, as Tropical Storm Faye turned out to be the "big rain storm" that forecasters expected. After two days of waiting with overcast skies and only spotty rain on Wednesday and Thursday, Friday's worst in the Savannah area brought spotty power outages, localized flooding, some traffic tie-ups and downed tree limbs.

Possible tornadoes spotted this morning by National Weather Service doppler radar in counties north of Savannah, including Effingham, Bulloch, Jenkins and Screven Counties, did not result in calls to emergency services, those services reported this afternoon. Roads were clear and "all quiet here" was the going phrase among emergency services personnel contacted by GPB.

Today, residents in the Savannah area awoke to no power. As many as 9,000 people were without power at the height of an early morning outage, but crews restored power to most before noon. Tybee Island and Savannah's Southside were the most effected. Georgia Power brought in extra crews, but didn't have to use them, because local crews were sufficient, company officials said.

Georgia's southern coast appears to be getting the heaviest rain. There were reports of some minor street flooding in St. Mary's, some traffic tie-ups on Interstate-95 and a lot of disruption in Jacksonville, where officials attributed several traffic fatalities to the storm. Officials in three South Georgia counties, Camden, Glynn and McIntosh, and officials at Valdosta city schools cancelled classes today for those safety reasons.

But even in South Georgia, the storm, so far, has been a bigger wait than anything. Lowndes County spokesman Paige Dukes said, "People in South Georgia are prepared for storms. They've been through this before. But, this is the longest we've had to wait for a storm." Fay made landfall in the Florida Keys on August 15.

Record few Memorial Day traffic deaths

Georgia had a record few number of traffic deaths this Memorial Day weekend. Right now, the Georgia State Patrol counts 7 deaths. The GSP had predicted 18 people would die on Georgia roads this weekend. Police say while traffic was heavy throughout the weekend, good weather and seat belt-wearing saved lives.

Experts: Traffic deters economic growth

Traffic is the biggest obstacle to Atlanta’ economic growth. The Atlanta Business Chronicle reports that was the message today from experts during a transportation forum. Experts said other southern cities could get an edge over Atlanta because they’re improving transportation. They say companies won’t want to relocate to Atlanta – nor bring jobs with it – because of intolerable traffic.

14 Traffic Deaths Over Memorial Day

The Georgia State Patrol says at least fourteen people died in traffic accidents over the three-day Memorial Day holiday weekend that ended at midnight Monday. The death toll includes two people who died in separate accidents on Old National Highway in south Fulton County late Monday night. Troopers report more than 2,700 wrecks and 700 people injured since the holiday travel period started at 6 p.m. Friday. In 2008, 16 people were killed and 912 were hurt in traffic accidents on Georgia roadways.

(Associated Press/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Atlanta traffic nearly worst in nation

A national study released today ranks Atlanta’s traffic congestion second worst in the nation. The study by the Texas Transportation Institute says drivers waste nearly an entire work week each year sitting in traffic on the way to and from their jobs. The Los Angeles metro area had the worst congestion, delaying drivers an average of 72 hours a year. Rounding out the top five are Atlanta, San Francisco, Washington and Dallas.

Top ranking for new Middle Georgia College aviation program

The air traffic control program at Middle Georgia College has received a top national ranking from the Federal Aviation Administration. The honor stands number-one among nine newly-approved schools in the FAA’s Air Traffic-Collegiate Training Initiative. The effort is to fill a need for more controllers.

Dr. Julie Massie Clark is the college’s chair of aviation management and business. She says new equipment, and recently-retired controllers as instructors were factors in the top ranking.

"We’ve got equipment that the FAA has admitted is better than theirs…it’s very easy to say that’s what the textbook says, but to take it a step further and say I can give you a real life scenario. We’ve got wonderful equipment and a phenomenal faculty".

Clark says the school is also the only among 23 in the nation to own and operate its own air traffic control tower, which is in Eastman.

Middle Georgia College started its two-year aviation program last year, and just began its four-year program in August.

Port of Savannah bucks East Coast trends

The Port of Savannah is reporting a third straight month of near 30% growth -- an unheard of pace for East Coast ports.

Ports up and down the Atlantic coast are reporting single-digit, zero or negative growth, but this week, the Georgia Port Authority told its board that the Savannah port grew at 29% or 30% compared to last year each month for the last three months. September traffic was the port's third-highest monthly total ever.

Port officials attribute the record totals to a weakening dollar making exports more attractive, market trends shifting away from West Coast ports and the Georgia Ports ability to handle such large traffic increases. They don't expect the 30% numbers to continue, however. They say, the winter months will bring another market shift and a tempering of Savannah traffic growth

The Port of Savannah is the fourth-busiest and fastest-growing container terminal in the United States.

July 4th Weekend Traffic Injuries; Fatalities

The state Department of Public Safety says 19 people have been killed in Georgia traffic accidents during the July 4 holiday weekend. The number was three less than the department had predicted. The 2,490 wrecks far more than the 1,874 that had been forecast. There were 682 injuries.

(Associated Press)

Former Arcade police chief cleared

A former Arcade, Georgia police chief has been cleared of accusations he fixed traffic tickets. The Jackson County district attorney has closed the book on the file of Dennis Bell. A six-month investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation found no evidence to support the accusation that Bell destroyed original documents in a 2006 DUI case.

Bell resigned from his position as chief in November after the Arcade City Council got an anonymous letter from a former employee accusing Bell of fixing traffic tickets and falsifying his time cards. The council's internal investigation found that most of the
allegations were unfounded. But council members asked the GBI to look into an accusation that Bell disposed of citations in the DUI case.

Fatal Crashes Rose During Holiday

The Georgia State Patrol says there were a higher-than-expected number of traffic fatalities on Georgia roads over the Thanksgiving holiday travel period.

Traffic crashes killed 26 people during the period which began Wednesday at 6 p.m. and ended Sunday night at midnight. The number of deaths was higher than the 18 deaths estimated and higher than the 19 deaths seen during the same period last year.

Despite the increase in crashes, State Patrol officials say a high rate of seat belt use led to a decrease in injuries, which totaled 844.

Report ranks Georgia roads

Georgia’s roads are 6th most cost-effective in the nation, according to a new study. University of North Carolina researchers ranked U.S. highway systems. They found that even though Georgia’s roads improved between 1984 and 2005, traffic congestion and highway fatalities increased. The study’s lead author says it shows that with cutbacks in federal funding, states need to direct transportation money to reduce traffic.

City of Pendergrass tops in NE Ga for traffic fine revenue

The city of Pendergrass has collected the most traffic fine revenue and seized assets-per-resident in the northeast Georgia region for the second straight year. The Athens Banner-Herald details a report that shows the Pendergrass police department took-in nearly 560-thousand dollars in 2006, for a town of 491 residents. The monetary amount more than covers the department budget of 312-thousand dollars. Next in the rankings—the Arcade police department, followed by the Madison County Sheriff’s office, and the Jefferson police department, ranking 4th. The data comes from a report complied by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs.

Ga. FAA glitch stalls flights nationwide (updated)

The Federal Aviation Administration said a communication failure Tuesday at a Georgia facility that processes flight plans for the eastern half of the U.S. was causing flight delays around the country.

An FAA Web site that posts airport status information showed delays at some three dozen major airports coast-to-coast, advising passengers to "check your departure airport to see if your flight may be affected."

An updated FAA map of flight-delayed airports is available here.

An FAA list of links to air carriers affected by the delays is here.

FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen in Atlanta said there are no safety issues and officials are still able to speak to pilots on planes on the ground and in the air.

She said she doesn't know how many flights are being affected.

Bergen said the problem that occurred Tuesday afternoon involves an FAA facility in Hampton, Ga., south of Atlanta, that processes flight plans. She said there was a failure in a communication link that transmits the data to a similar facility in Salt Lake City.

As a result, the Salt Lake City facility was having to process those flight plans, causing delays in planes taking off. She said there were no problems with planes landing:

"There will be flight delays," Bergen said. "It could be any location, because one facility is now processing flight data for everybody."

A spokesman for Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world's busiest airport, did not immediately return a call seeking comment on the impact there. Bergen said officials at the Atlanta airport were entering flight data manually to try to speed things up.

The communication failure was causing delays for departures and arrivals at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, according to airport spokeswoman Cheryl Stewart. However, she did not have a number on delays.

The FAA has asked that no new flight plans be filed, Stewart said. If an airline has not filed a flight plan yet, that flight can't leave. However, some flights had already filed their plans and those planes were being allowed to depart, Stewart said.

The National Airspace Data Interchange Network is a data communications system for air traffic controllers. It's used to distribute flight plans and allows controllers to know when planes are leaving, where they're going and other details.

Allen Kenitzer, a western regional spokesman for the FAA, said the Utah system could handle the extra load while workers tried to get the Atlanta system back online, but it was expected to slow down air traffic.

"We're not going to let an unsafe condition exist. It's just going to be slower," Kenitzer said.

(The Associated Press)

Acid leak closes traffic on Savannah corridor

The length of Savannah's major downtown corridor, Bay Street, will be closed to traffic through rush hour, police officials said, because of a tanker truck leaking sulfuric acid. A HazMat crew is on the scene and cleaning up acid puddles in the road. Bay Street is closed from General MacIntosh Blvd. to Fahm Street, creating gridlock throughout downtown. Bay Street is the only throughway for large trucks in the Historic District and one of two major east-west connectors in the coastal city.

Wildfires update

The massive wildfire that is affecting southeast Georgia into Florida has burned over 240-thousand acres, and continues to cause havoc for firefighters, travelers, and residents.

The blaze was sparked just over a week ago from a lightning strike in the Okefenokee Swamp. Officials today report 30-percent containment on the fire. In Florida alone, it has burned over 102-thousand acres. Windy conditions in the forecast are expected to test new and existing fire-lines that have been constructed.

Road travel continues to be greatly affected. Several highways in Georgia and Florida were closed. Travel on Interstates 75 and 10 is allowed when visibility permits. Roads closed in Georgia: US 441 from Homerville to the state line; SR 177 between Stephen C Foster State Park and Fargo; SR 94 closed to through traffic--from Moniac west to the state line; SR 94 entirely closed from the Florida line through Fargo to Statenville; SR 185 is open for local traffic only.

Firefighters in Georgia are battling another massive blaze nearby, which has charred more than 130-thousand acres since mid-April. And just from this past weekend, north Georgia had a new blaze flare-up from what may have been a lightning strike—over 900 acres burned in the Chattahooche National Forest in Gilmer County. The fire is about 10 miles north of Ellijay.

Georgia debuts traffic hotline

Georgians have a new way to avoid getting stuck in traffic. Just dial 511 for information on accidents, construction and other backups. Governor Sonny Perdue unveiled the system today. Drivers will also be able to contribute information, as well as get estimated travel times in metro-Atlanta. Georgia’s 511 system will eventually link to other states’ systems.

Bradleys and Baghdad on the 'Hootch'

Maj. Shane Sims goes through a final checklist with the driver of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle on the testing pad at Fort Benning, a day before trucking the 25-ton tracked vehicles into Columbus on Thursday, June 5, 2008. (Dave Bender)

Two Bradley Fighting Vehicles – tank-like personnel carriers – clanked along in downtown Columbus traffic on Thursday, in order to test out hi-tech camera gear.

A Bradley Fighting Vehicle pulls into traffic in downtown Columbus for a test run. The tank is sandwiched between two of the test team's pickup trucks to minimize the chance of hitting a civilian vehicle , June 5, 2008. (Dave Bender)

Cpl. Jason Wade of Columbus State University police watched as the vehicles rolled by his post near a parking garage on Front Street:

“That's something downtown's never seen before. It's pretty neat! Couldn't imagine being stopped at a red light and seeing this big 50-caliber gun stuck in my rear view mirror (laughs).

He's watching an army test to better protect soldiers out on patrol from bombs, bullets and the mayhem on Iraqi streets.

They want to keep soldiers safely buttoned up in an armor plated, 25-ton Bradley Fighting Vehicle. The steel and aluminum-hulled heavyweight runs on treads, carries a three-man crew and up to seven infantrymen.

Fort Benning officials are here to acid test a new camera vision system that's supposed to transmit a 360-degree color and infrared view of what's going on outside to the crew's tv-screens inside.

But the system's camera and infrared scanners – which translate degrees of heat and cold into a black and white image – are blinded by southwest Georgia's scorching 100-degree heat reflecting off walls, cars and people.

Spc. Kyle Jolley and another crew member take a break on the Bradley Fighting Vehicle's ramp, between sorties through downtown Columbus to test camera systems, June 5, 2008. (Dave Bender)

Specialist Kyle Jolley, who monitors the cameras is having a tough time interpreting what's on his screen:

“It's kind of overwhelming at this point, because there's so many noncombatants that are there, and a lot of them have cameras, so it's hard to distinguish an actual video camera or something like that. Also, you're trying to pick people apart in groups, and by the time you do, you're already passed them and moved on to the next group.”

Interviewer:
What about the infrared signatures?

Jolley:
“Infrared's difficult during the day, because the sun heats up the surrounding areas so much, that people don't stand off against the background as well as they do during the nighttime.”

Jolley has to pick out eight soldiers who are wearing street clothes, and posing as insurgents. They're brandishing long black tubes as make-believe weapons, and hiding in the deep shadows of windows and doorways, and behind bushes and foliage.



Second Lieutenant Alfred Spiteri, posing as an insurgent, points a mock anti-tank rocket at the Bradley Fighting Vehicle as it drives by a parking garage, June 5, 2008. The maneuver is meant to test the vehicle's on-board camera system in real life situations, similar to those encountered in Iraq. (Dave Bender)

Infantry Second Lieutenant Alfred Spiteri quickly points his mock anti-tank rocket out the window of a parking garage, and then pulls back:

“Our job here is to work as an enemy for this exercise, so that they can see if the new camera systems they're trying to incorporate into the Bradleys' are effective. Other people out here have mock rifles, so that the Bradley crews can differentiate between what weapons we're using.”

But despite the snafus the army says it wants all the feedback – positive and especially negative - from the camo-clad troops, so they can fix the bugs before the system is deployed in Baghdad's back alleys.

I ask Major Shane Sims, who's in charge of the field testing, about other possible battle scenarios:

Interviewer:
“You're running through downtown Baghdad; a kid runs up with spray paint, gets two cameras out; someone throws a grenade on it – you can blow out a camera...”

Sims:
“You're very attuned into what some of the issues are. those are very good questions, and those are issues we're all addressing in this experiment.”

After the Bradleys are trucked back to Fort Benning, and the field reports are filed, Sims says additional system testing and adding improvements will take place at the Army's armor center at Fort Knox, Kentucky.

Crewmember undergoes an inspection before deploying his vehicle on a test sortie in downtown Columbus, June 5, 2008. (Dave Bender)

Click here for more GPB News coverage of events at Fort Benning and the post's effect on Columbus and the surrounding area .