DeKalb Avenue Suicide Lane Commits Suicide Again
Decatur Metro | November 30, 2009 | 10:24 amLee reports in on a pretty common DeKalb Avenue event, with a twist…
Commuters were surprised to find the suicide lane on DeKalb Avenue was not green for in-bound traffic this morning. The Atlanta police were gently encouraging some of the more confused drivers.
Is this a permanent change or simply a errant clock?
I grant that the cop is a new touch, so maybe something is up, but the missing weekday morning “green arrow” happens semi-regularly.
Of course, a lack of traffic signals has never stopped many DeKalb Ave. commuters and their God-given right to do whatever necessary to get to work on time.
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This does seem to happen pretty frequently, though not so often with a police presence. I’m one of those ‘light ignorers’ during the morning commute, but I do have a strategy: wait for a large truck/SUV to pass, then tuck in behind it and go for it. No way I’m leading the charge in my little car.
Hope this isn’t a permanent change, as getting through downtown is already a big enough challenge with the new lane structure at GSU and the apparently never ending work on North Ave.
Oh, I’ve done it myself on occasion. I am not even safe from my own scorn!
BTW, have you heard about North Ave’s proposed road diet?
Yeah, the new plans for North Ave leave me a bit conflicted. The pedestrian-friendly-Decaturite side thinks it looks like a great plan. The commute-hating-cubicle-dweller side is less enthralled.
I am so with you. Perhaps we need to start a support group for conflicted transit supporters.
Oooh Robbie, I may’ve served as your SUV today. I didn’t even notice the arrow was not on… just wondered why all the traffic was stopped in the right lane and went right on by. Clearly I needed more coffee. In all seriousness, I’m glad nothing happened!
If they really want to put North Avenue on a road diet, there should be a permanent detour around the Varsity entrance.
Ooooh. Please don’t do that. I don’t want to have to kill you guys when you head the wrong direction in my lane.
So glad you covered this this morning. I was sitting in my car wishing it was Free-for-all Friday so I could rant about this. People definitely drive too fast on Dekalb during the morning commute, but the arbitrary on-again, off-again of the suicide lane is dangerous at ANY speed. People get used to the lane being open in the a.m., then narrowly avoid a head-on collision (I saw this this morning, by the way) with someone unaccustomed to the road’s typical flow. Very dangerous by all counts, even at 35 mph.
I enjoyed the thrill this morning of driving in the Adrenaline Lane toward downtown while the signals were all telling me “No,” and the chickens lined up neatly out of my way in the Semi-Safe Lane. No need for caffeine at the office.
Used to drive that way every morning and don’t miss the craziness at all. I too occasionally found myself moving along down the center lane in the morning, only to realize the red X was showing. Big oops. And I also have to admire the guts of the occasional cyclist riding along the side of the road.
The thing is, usually when the suicide lane signals malfunction, they show the red “x” going both ways – so you know you are ok to use the lane in the morning, because that’s the customary traffic flow, and certainly no one coming the other way is going to defy their red “x”. Whenever the lane signal is screwed up I check the opposite side of the signs in my rearview mirror, confirm they are on the red “x”, and use the suicide lane.
But this morning they had the green arrow going eastbound. People heading westbound were ignoring the signals and using the lane. That right there is how people get killed.
I bailed and tried McClendon, which was a disaster, so cut back over to DeKalb Ave after Clifton. If this morning’s traffic pattern is intentional and permanent, I might start walking to downtown (which is still faster than taking MARTA).
Hey we are all downtown. Someone bring me some lunch!
What exactly were the police doing this morning?
The one I saw was driving slowly down the middle lane near Candler Park Marta station, towards Decatur, with lights flashing. This is the first time I’ve seen a police car doing this, even though I’ve seen the lights malfunction dozens of times.
If it’s a permanent change, why wouldn’t they change the darn sign? (Note: I took this while in bumper – to- bumper traffic immediately after the cop rolled past me in the suicide lane).
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mingaling/4146996897/
Big accident at 4:15 PM on Scott Blvd, at ~Pinetree. Had to detour around it so couldn’t see what was going on, but it looked big.
That area, from Pinetree down thru the triangle, is horrible. Lots of accidents and a nightmare to cross on foot. I hope everyone is OK.
A secondary, but equally important issue is the confusion created by contradictory meaning of a green arrows.
A green arrow pointed down means it’s okay to drive in the lane.
A green arrow pointed to the right means it’s NOT okay to drive in the lane(see the pic Mingaling links to above).
The person who came up with that system shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near a city/state/county road signal department.
GDOT at their finest ….
So, does anyone know if this is permanent or not?
Things on DeKalb Avenue have gone from bad to worse… BOTH sides were green this morning (and not a cop in sight). I almost got hit head on twice before I glanced in my rearview and saw that the other side of traffic had a green arrow as well. When I called 911 to report it, the very rude operator told me it had been reported. When I inquired if police would be on the scene to prevent a deadly accident, she reiterated that it had been reported.
For what it’s worth, it was back to normal this AM at 7:40-ish.
The suicide lanes were back to normal this morning.
So…we’ve got some confusing reports here. Some people say it’s back to normal and others are saying it’s still screwed up. Nellie wrote in around 7:30a
“Lights are right but coppers putting out cones @ blvd”
I drove in during the early part of the 7am hour and it was green arrows in both directions. I warned a coworked about it who comes in later and he said it was working properly when he drove in (around 8:30am).
I swear there was a policeman putting out cones!
I’ll vouch for you – there definitely was a cop and cones in the center lane past Blvd when I turned there around 7:15 this morning. I didn’t notice green arrows in both directions before that point, but I wasn’t looking for them either – so I guess I should just be thankful I made it to work in one piece!
This is interesting. I hope no one dies.
I called 911 this morning as well, when I noticed a traffic sign in front of the Inman Park MARTA station showing green in both directions. This was around 8:45am.
My husband and I were in a head-on collision in the Dekalb Ave reversible lane on September 16 around noon, and it was exactly this sort of situation. We had 3 green arrows in a row, then a red X, and then we slammed into a half-ton pick-up truck which came around the curve (he also had green arrows). The car was totaled, my arm was broken, and both of my husband’s hands sustained dislocated fingers and broken bones. We are lucky to be alive, and deeply grateful that the other driver only sustained a split lip.
My neighbor, a City of Atlanta police officer, tells me that they clean up 2-3 wrecks a month in that reversible lane. The judge who ruled on my case told me that she sees tons of reversible lane cases, said that they are confusing, and advised me to stay out of them– which I will do, trust me!
Since the accident, I have personally seen two more instances of mixed signals in the reversible lane. I contacted 11 Alive’s Commuter Dude in hopes that he would take this on, but he told me that he’s a one-man operation and isn’t able to put the time into this.
It is a TRULY dangerous situation, and it is beyond me why The Powers That Be allow the situation to continue.
Sorry to hear about your crash. Two years ago my wife spent a month in the Atlanta Medical Center because of the reversible lane. She told me there was a crash this week in the exact spot she was hit.
I take Dekalb Ave. every morning because unlike Ponce, it actually moves faster than 5 mph. I’ve never experienced the phenomenon discussed above, or maybe I did and just didn’t realize it. I have been cognizant lately of just staying in the far right lane whenever possible (except for where it crosses the train tracks and they did a really bad job of evening out the dip).
Incidentally (accidentally?), police were routing traffic around a totaled car (right below the Raging Burrito billboard) this morning. I chalked it up to the nasty road conditions since there was only one car involved that I could see and it was in the far right lane, but who knows?
Late to the party, but I gotta say that suicide lane has been and will always be dangerous. It will likely only get worse as more people move into the neighborhoods surrounding Dekalb Ave.
Personally, I think MARTA rail is a good alternative. It will never be as fast as driving, but some things are more important to me than shaving 10 minutes off your commute (like not dying in a fiery car crash). And you can read, surf the internet, or admire the scenery. It might even be cheaper than your monthly parking fee, and it is certainly less stressful than dealing with crazy drivers.
My dream: If more people uses this option, they could convert Dekalb into a two lane rd with a tree-filled median.