Monthly Archives: February 2017

It’s a Privilege to Do Business in Georgia(and So You Must Pay)

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Yes, indeed, it is a privilege to do business in Georgia.  I am not speaking from the eyes of the business owner who is grateful of where he has chosen to open his business.  Instead I am speaking of how government views you and your business enterprise.

And as it is such a privilege, the State of Georgia taxes you for that privilege.

Senate Bill 133 brought that to my attention as they are attempting to remove this tax for businesses of a certain size.  It will still be a privilege to have a business, for that language will not be removed, but some businesses will be exempt.

http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/en-US/display/20172018/SB/133?utm_source=Copy+of+Eyes+and+Ears+-+GaPundit+for+Feb+27%2C+2017&utm_campaign=GaPundit+Todd+Rehm+Georgia+Politics+04202015&utm_medium=email

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Proof of Concept: Three Lanes Through

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Definition – What does Proof of Concept (POC) mean?

A proof of concept (POC) is a demonstration, the purpose of which is to verify that certain concepts or theories have the potential for real-world application. POC is therefore a prototype that is designed to determine feasibility, but does not represent deliverables.

Proof of concept is also known as proof of principle.

https://www.techopedia.com/definition/4066/proof-of-concept-poc

Residents of Johns Creek have been told that to cure their traffic ailments, that they must widen State Route 141 to three lanes in each direction.

Others, such as my neighbors and myself, have challenged that this is the only cure for the traffic we have.

We are more than frustrated with our traffic.  We have been for years and years. We are told that we want to simply do nothing.  That is another myth by City Officials.  We want to do something.  We want the right solution, and not just any solution.

Putting the mettle to the test, we have asked to slow down the laying of asphalt and let us see what we can do to improve the bottlenecks we have in Johns Creek.  If traffic can get through the bottleneck, we feel there is adequate asphalt to handle the volume of vehicles until that traffic reaches the next bottleneck(which we can also address).

We are led to believe that just improving the intersections cannot address our issues.   If what we have proposed for the intersections does not work, then neither will their solution of paving three lanes in each direction.  The crucial component is that we get the intersections to function more efficiently.  The roadway between the intersections  when an intersection does not function properly is just space to queue vehicles.

And then we will be right back where we started, with six lanes instead of four.

I encourage our residents, therefore to ask the City Council to show us the Proof of Concept.  Give us the three lanes southbound at 141 and State Bridge Road through the intersection only.  Also, at the same time give us the three lanes westbound on State Bridge Road and have it terminate at the main entrance to Johns Creek High School.

My belief is that will show that three lanes through at the intersections will give us a major improvement in traffic movement, and at the same time demonstrate that we do not need to pave the entire corridor in both directions with three lanes. Our backups will be much shorter in both distance and duration.

And we haven’t even gotten started on the actual functions of the traffic lights themselves.

Imagine that.

I can.

 

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Georgia’s 6th Congressional District: Proof The House of Representatives Should Double in Size

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Georgia’s 6th Congressional District is providing the nation a very clear message.  There are too few Congressional seats, and each one represents too many voters.

The resignation of Tom Price, a Republican from Georgia, and now running Health and Human Services has set off a mad scramble for his vacated seat.

And at $5250 dollars to enter the race, there were no shortage of people wanting to participate in the chase for the seat.  The winner of this race will likely have it for as long as they desire. Continue reading →

The Naked Truth About (Subsidized) Wages

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If you have read my work over the years, then you know that I am not a proponent of Minimum Wage.  An adult should be able to work for anyone at an agreed price.

However, a new issue has come into my view I did not realize existed until recently.

Apparently there are groups out there (think Chamber of Commerce) that works with your local governments to hold wages down by:

A)  Making sure that there is Affordable Housing in your area so their workers can live nearby

B) Making sure there is mass transit options so that low cost workers can get to the businesses that want to hirer low cost employees(A Chamber Objective for sure) Continue reading →

Ten Pounds of Sugar In A Five Pound Bag

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“You can’t squeeze ten pounds of sugar in a five pound bag”

Residents of Johns Creek have heard this quote on more than one occasion when it comes to issues relating to traffic.  This quote, unfortunately, suggest that we have twice the volume of traffic at our intersections than we can handle.

But, what if the volume at our intersections was not twice as much as they can currently handle?  What if they were only 9-13%% over the capacity today?  Could we make some minor changes that would yield major improvements? Continue reading →

A GDOT Traffic Tutorial

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You’ve heard lots of information on traffic in Johns Creek.  Many of the conclusions I feel are based on erroneous assumptions and intuitions. The GDOT (Georgia Department of Transportation) surveys data at locations throughout our state and you have access to that data for yourself to confirm or deny your very own assumptions about the traffic you personally experience. Continue reading →

Traffic Choking Points

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One of the biggest issues we face is how to get more vehicles through an intersection at a minimal cost.

One thing we can do at many of our intersections is to eliminate Traffic Choking Points and utilize the right turn lanes as both a right turn and through lane, increasing the through volume of traffic 40%-50% immediately.

This one improvement could eliminate much of the delay on many of our busiest roads without the need to widen the corridor. Continue reading →

Minor Improvements Can Yield Major Benefits

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A truck with a high load underestimated the height of his load by 2 inches and found himself wedged into the entrance of a tunnel.  Unable to back out, experts were called to come and see what could be done to get the truck removed.

All of the engineers crowded around scratching their heads and making drastic suggestions.

Finally a little boy walked up, looked at the engineers and suggested “Why don’t you just let the air out of the tires. Continue reading →

Getting 141 Moving: Another Intersection That Needs To Be FATTER

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Where is one of the biggest opportunities to get traffic on 141 moving in the morning?  Anyone that drives south out of Johns Creek would agree that it is East Jones Bridge and 141.  Below is a depiction of the standard backup I have seen between the hours of 7:00 am and 9:00 am.

The orange represents the backup southbound.  The red on the east and western sides of the intersection represents the vehicles on those sides you see when you finally get to pass through the intersection.  So what is wrong with that picture?

It’s important to note that nearly every vehicle east and west bound makes it through the light with just one cycle of the lights at the intersection.

Here is an aerial view of the intersection:

 

As you can see, only one lane in each direction east and west travel straight.  With no additional asphalt the east bound side could be configured to carry two lanes straight through the intersection.  But they need to add an additional through lane westbound.

(What is a FATTER Intersection? http://1c4.f98.myftpupload.com/2017/02/15/what-should-we-do-to-improve-johns-creek-traffic-flow-on-141/)

Doing this would make this intersection MUCH more efficient at a minimal cost. That would have the ability to keep this light green longer and move this traffic through the corridor.

Just two lights down at 141 and Peachtree Corners Circle, the light is green for 4 minutes.  There is no backup heading south at this light whatsoever.

Also, with such short queues on the east and west bound sides of the intersection should indicate that they could keep the light green longer anyway.  They have, for some reason, chosen not to.

Finally, they could do what we have done in other areas such as the stretch between Old Alabama and State Bridge on 141 and make the area three lanes through all the way to Spalding Drive, and this would require no additional asphalt.

Summary:

  1. Fatter intersection east and west bound reduces red light time on 141
  2. Three lanes southbound using existing asphalt increases southbound capacity up to 50%.
  3.  Longer green light times than 141 south currently has increases the volume of vehicles per light cycle.

We could get this traffic moving drastically without destroying the entire corridor and at a minimal cost.

Unfortunately, we wait while the City of Johns Creek works to convince everyone the only solution is three lanes in all directions.

Click here to see more issues and suggestions on traffic:  www.ejmoosa.com