UPDATE IV: AJC reports the Southbound Connector has reopened.

UPDATE III: The device has been detonated, and the police are now working to reopen the connector, but are strongly advising that you avoid Midtown/Downtown Atlanta.  At this point you better break out your Waze app, or Google Maps, or head over to the GDOT website because it’s going to be a rough commute home for many.

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From the Druid Hills website…

President Obama and other officials are expected to visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Clifton Road tomorrow, Tuesday, September 16, for a briefing about the CDC’s response efforts to Ebola in West Africa.

Traffic will be severely affected along the entire Clifton Corridor and in surrounding areas for several hours Tuesday afternoon, beginning around 2 pm. Seek alternative routes and avoid the area if possible!

Update – residents reporting that DeKalb Ave is still closed.

Lots of area residents got stuck trying to get to/from downtown Atlanta yesterday. This morning, the AJC has a pretty extensive report – and photos! – of the water main break that closed DeKalb Ave…

A major northeast Atlanta thoroughfare reopened Thursday night after a predawn water main break flooded the roadway.

The break, near the intersection of DeKalb Avenue and Elmira Place, was reported just before 6 a.m. Emergency repairs were completed around 8 p.m. and water service was restored.

But it’s not all over yet.

Crews will continue to repair the street Friday, resulting in single lane closures, authorities said.

OK, so here we go.  Going to try a live blog for the first time since the President’s visit.  Updates will appear below the original post.

Most businesses, schools and government offices/functions around Atlanta are closed since the roads are basically ice this morning.

Here’s a random assortment of pertinent links/info.  Will update as needed.  Please add more in the comments below.

• Metro Atlanta remains gridlocked.
• MARTA buses aren’t running.
• MARTA trains are running but experiencing lengthy delays.
• Late yesterday, The Decatur Minute posted about ice at N. Candler and Commerce.
• DeKalb sent out this list of road closures late yesterday.
• Gwyneth posted this pic of a bus trying to get up Ponce last night.  No wonder buses aren’t running.
• A pic of stranded folks sleeping in a Home Depot

After the jump, GDOT’s 6a update of passable major roads around Atlanta.  Every major interstate except I-285 seems to be on there.  That doesn’t mean I-285 isn’t still a sheet of ice though.

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Tammy sends in this photo of a tree down across Ponce de Leon Avenue near the Clifton Road intersection.  She reports that its “blocking all lanes”.

Plan accordingly!

From the AJC…

A major route between Decatur and Atlanta was shut down by a fallen tree early Thursday.

The huge tree came crashing down onto Ponce de Leon Avenue near Clifton Road before 5 a.m.

All lanes of Ponce de Leon in both directions remained blocked at 7:30 a.m., and the state Department of Transportation was predicting it would be 10 a.m. before the road reopens.

One photo of the downed tree HERE.

This morning the AJC features some quality knee-jerk reaction on the Atlanta streetcar from WSB’s Channel 2 Action News’ Triple Team Traffic member Mark Arum.  It reads like something from The Vent…

I can’t tell you how many times I have been stuck with no way to get between [Centennial Park and MLK Center]. It seems every time I want to head over to the King Center from the Park, my car is broken. And there are no cabs. And my bike has a flat tire. And I’ve got a cramp in my thigh so I can’t walk. The kicker to the trolley folly, is that the city will need to kick in an additional $25 million to complete the project.

…Listen, trolleys were great at the turn of the century. And so were typewriters. But I don’t think we’d be better off relying on either right now.

If you have time, head over to youtube.com and search “Simpsons Monorail”. Hopefully you’ll find the irony somewhat therapeutic.

OK, so all of Atlanta’s traffic solutions should be based on Mr. Arum’s personal experiences in Atlanta.  Got it.  And anything “great” in 1900 is crap now.  Got it.  Oh, and there’s some sort of irony I’m missing.

OK. So what SHOULD we be spending $25 million on?

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