Atlanta/Decatur Road Conditions – Thursday
Decatur Metro | January 30, 2014 | 8:46 amSeems like a lot more businesses plan to open today – that’s the other thread! – but there’s likely to be a considerable amount of ice on the street until the temperature works its way up toward 32 degrees. So here we go again!
Report road conditions in your area. Let your neighbors who must go out know the best routes.
All lanes of the east side Perimeter from Ashford-Dunwoody to Stone Mountian Freeway were clear and dry as of about 11 pm Wednesday. Didn’t encounter any ice until I got back into CoD.
Scott looks crystal clear around Coventry. West Ponce clear. Coventry from Ponce to Scott mostly clear with one icy patch at the hill when it joins Nelson Ferry but plenty of vehicles making their way slowly and steadily up it. Some of the Northwest Decatur residential streets still have huge icy patches where the (ahem) tree canopy has been protecting the road from the sun. In the hilly and shady parts, those patches could be difficult if your tires are bald or if you didn’t drive slowly and steadily.
Sometimes you truly make me laugh out loud.
My spouse reports this morning the east side perimeter and 85 (north of 285) are dry and fine for driving. He said there was an icy patch on Dekalb Industrial.
Any word on Church between downtown and 78?
Drove that way this morning at 9AM with no problems.
Dekalb Ave to downtown was drivable… still icy patches but all passable if careful.
Memorial Dr -> Spence Ave -> McDonough St -> Trinity Pl -> Commerce Dr -> Clairemont Ave to Buford Hwy all clear.
Atlanta Public Schools just cancelled school tomorrow. The roads are fine, and the remaining icy patches are quickly thawing. Hopefully Decatur doesn’t follow APS’ lead.
After Tuesday’s debacle I think they will all turn the risk aversion meter to 11 for the forseeable future.
Sure, it’s easy to mock them Dawgy, but think of the children for god’s sake. After the deep freeze we’ve just had, the kids may not be prepared for the FIFTY-THREE degree weather we’re going to have tomorrow. What if the air conditioning doesn’t work on the buses or in the schools? Will YOU take responsibility if they start overheating or suffering from hyperthermia? I thought not!
Damn, I’m glad that I don’t have kids right about now.
I’m hearing buzz about blaming metro school systems for Tuesday’s debacle–if only they had cancelled school altogether ahead of time, then parents wouldn’t have rushed home all at once to pick up their kids being let out early from school and/or after care…. IMHO, it was a perfect storm (pun intended) and blaming any one action is unfair. Probably everyone, including those of us who jumped in our cars like lemmings, could have done better but most everything I’ve heard is understandable if unfortunate.
School systems truly can’t win. I happen to think that closing just about any day this week other than Monday makes more sense than the polar-vortex-but-no-snow closings. But real easy for me to say. If all the school buses had been late or never showed up during the polar vortex, CSD Central Office would have been deluged with calls…
My conclusion after living through several snow-jam and -pocalypses is that you cannot evacuate Atlanta quickly. In the case of a nuclear or atmospheric catastrophe, your only hope is to either leave way early before the news sinks in or just hunker down while everyone else sits and runs out of gas on the interstates. So you risk looking like an idiot either because you keep overcalling the danger and leaving town for nothing or because you stayed put as the meteor approached the metro area.
Here’s what I don’t get: It’s been demonstrated over and over again that Georgia can’t handle ice and snow, so why when the forecast is 100% snow, with temperatures well below freezing, a winter storm warning (not a watch) that WAS issued very early Tuesday morning for north of Atlanta, why with all that would the schools not close altogether?
IMHO, because they were criticized for overcalling the polar vortex, true or not. They were worried about overcalling this one and then being criticized twice–for keeping kids home unnecessarily and then again when they figured out how to make up the missed days. Speaking of which, I dread finding out how the days will be made up; none of the obvious options are good for us.
I am assuming they cancel part of winter break before they cancel part of spring break. The downside is that winter break is only a couple of weeks away and undoubtedly some families have made plans, bought tickets, etc.
Although many want to point the finger at someone, I don’t think there is anyone to blame. But, I do think that a lot of Tuesday’s problems are a direct result of the decision to close school on Jan. 6. Earlier this month, although there was only a small chance of snow/ice, schools announced they were closed on Sunday night only to wake to clear roads on Monday morning. Everyone was pissed (and became more upset when it was “too cold” for school the next day), so this time they overcompensated and kept schools open although the forecasts called for lunchtime snow. In short, if they hadn’t closed school on Jan. 6, they would have closed schools this past Tuesday without worrying about the wrath of upset parents, and everyone in the city wouldn’t have gotten in their car at the same time. The schools let one bad mistake lead to a much worse one.
But, I agree that the schools can’t win. Just hoping they learn.
I’m sure that did play into their thinking.
Fair points. But I wouldn’t call closing the schools for extreme cold a “bad mistake”. A mistake, maybe, but better to err on that side than the other. And it’s true that many buildings here simply aren’t equipped for extreme cold, though on that day it might have been better to send students home on a case-by-case basis.
I’d like to give kudos to CSD for announcing in the early morning that after-school activities were cancelled. This gave a lot of us warning, and possibly alerted a few that maybe something bad was coming – then adjust our schedules accordingly.
Was Decatur the only school system to pre-emptively call off after-school?
I also like that most of our kids could walk home if needed. That obviously does not apply to College Heights, so the call to end the day at 1pm for them was well-taken.
All in all I think we fared much better than our neighboring areas. That said, they shouldn’t need to call off tomorrow – we can handle it.
DeKalb seems to have done pretty well too, both with getting kids home and sanding the streets. Their Twitter feed indicates they cancelled after school at 3:37 am.
Interestingly, though, it seems DeKalb made the decision to open schools about 20 minutes before the National Weather Service upgraded the area to a winter storm warning. BTW, does CSD use Twitter?
I will admit I criticized CSD after polar vortex (still think they overcalled that one). I think they handled this one great- plenty of notice IMO and the right decisions.
What if Phyllis Edwards said “look, every principle has called me and we were going to have a teacher absentee rate of 75%, because their kids are out, and there wouldn’t be adequate supervision for all of the kids.”Or what if she said straight up, we were honestly concerned about a minority of children, being properly dressed, and that’s why we did what we did. We’d do it differently next time. Would everyone still be as pissed? I feel like intention is relevant in this situation.
I agree multiple causes for the mess this week. However, the most disgusting thing I read was that the Georgia Emergency Management center was not open at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, and the GEMA director had the nerve to say at a later press conference that traffic was not that bad at 3:00! The Governor quickly corrected him, but if that guy still has a job next week… his judgment on Tuesday and his judgment at the press conference failed.
Yeah, that guy sort of came off as the “slow Southern type” that other parts of the country make fun of. The mess down here has been the lead on the national news; you can just imagine some of the reactions to that press conference.
The guy has worked for the State thirty-some years. He should retire.
That’s rude, Steve.
Hmmm…DM might consider that a personal attack so I will submit: I find your comment rude, Steve.
I work in Dunwoody, and what I saw around Ashford Dunwoody could have easily been a result of parents leaving to get kids, but 285 and 400, it doesn’t seem possible. The level of gridlock was inexplicable. And what I was hoping to see from news helicopters but never did, was where exactly the jam had started on the expressways, that obviously backed up all of the feeder roads heading North and to Cobb. I have a coworker who didn’t get home until 5:30 in the morning, I would have ripped every hair out of my head!!! I couldn’t believe after what happened several years ago and them saying no matter what, the expressways stay open, it got like that again.
Side note, I’m loving the post saying streets around around City Hall East are icy. Mayor Reed is just one fumbling-bumbling disappointment after the next. Violence? What violence? Ice? What ice?
Hard to pinpoint a cause, but it does seem a lot of people weren’t up to date on the latest weather reports Tuesday morning. Heard a lot of comments from people still thinking it was going be a “dusting”, when the forecast had changed early Tuesday morning. Maybe more people would have stayed home if the forecast had changed the night before.
There is no “City Hall East” and hasn’t been for years.
Hey, for us fogies, it’s still Sears.
It’s the tractor trailers on 285. They are somewhat restricted going through the city, that’s why the commute fromCobb to Decatur wasn’t that bad. Next time, they need to tell them to stay off 285 after noon, then salt, then wait.
According to the GDOT spokesperson, advisories were sent out to truckers to put on chains, which she said they are required by law to do once so notified. Apparently few if any did. But if anyone thinks a high percentage of those trucks are properly equipped, I’ve got an iced-over bridge for sale…
I just drove northwest from Decatur via Columbia Drive – College – Dekalb Ave – Moreland – Ponce (icy still under the bridge by the HD shopping center) – Monroe past 10th and the park – almost all the way to 85 (close to the Salvation Army HQ). Patchy ice in shady spots, but passable if you go slooowwww. Just take it easy people.
uh oh. City of Atlanta AND Dekalb County schools closed tomorrow. What are the chances of school closing in Decatur despite clear roads and 50 degree weather forecast?
Looks like all of the metro systems are closed tomorrow, except Gwinnett and Decatur-so far.
My guess is that they are closing as much because their staff are exhausted after spending Tuesday night/Wednesday morning outside in vehicles on jammed interstates and today fielding questions as because they are worried about remaining ice patches. And that might be a fair call.
My kids are going crazy waiting for news. I said 70% probability of late start and 10% probability of no school.
I’d put money on that one. Late start in case any of us happen to drive over the one patch of ice still left at 7;00 AM but not completely closed on a day when daffodil bulbs may start to sprout in the afternoon.
Just got the call! Nice discussion at dinner of probabilities! I do not envy anyone having to make that decision.
Kids just pointed out that next Friday’s forecast is right now 60% of snow!
The roads at sunrise (College and Ponce)were passable as long as you took your time. I was a little surprised (well on second thought maybe I should not be surprised) at how fast some people were going including one guy who passed nine cars and a Marta bus on College without being able to see if another car was coming. Oh and the guy who was jogging in the road on College and not on the sidewalk while cars were crossing patches of ice a few feet away was another priceless gem.