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
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
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:
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
The City of Johns Creek is suggesting that we widen 141 to three lanes between State Bridge Road and Grove Point Road. I suggest that is not required. Continue reading
Residents of Johns Creek who travel the 141 corridor have understood just how slow that ride can be. Some people, who have read what I have written on the cost of traffic delays have asked me what can be done, other than widening 141 to six lanes?
I have, on those occasions, suggested that it’s the side roads along the 141 corridor that need a bit of widening at the interchange rather than our entire corridor.
Here’s why:
Let’s take the intersection at the corner of Parson’s Road and 141 as our example. As configured today, has the typical one left turn lane, one right turn lane and one through lane as many of the intersections along the corridor have.
The City of Johns Creek has created a myth about our traffic volumes. Either that or the GDOT Web Server, which stores thousands of data points for traffic across the state and which is used for traffic planning is entirely worthless and wrong.
The City of Johns Creek tells us we have an ever growing body of traffic from Forsyth County. I have challenged that idea over the last two years only to be summarily dismissed by City Officials.
Once again here is the most updated data from GDOT which clearly shows no major increases on 141 over the last decade EXCEPT for two locations.
For several years now the interests of the Johns Creek residents have been growing in their desire to both understand and participate in how their closest level of government-their city government- functions.
And, what many of have seen has not been exactly what we had hoped for. Voter apathy has been mentioned often in City Council Meetings. Lack of citizens showing up at City Hall for Council Meetings was evident. City Council members tired of the same citizens making public comments.
Yet over the last three years there have been several events that have awakened the public, and coupled with more ways to have conversations (such as the Johns Creek Post and NextDoor) the genie is out of the bottle. Public scrutiny is going to only grow. Continue reading
The vote Johns Creek residents will take on the TSPLOST 0.75% tax is critical to understand.
Voters are being presented with the opportunity to raise the taxes on themselves, which will effectively increase the spending and size of the Johns Creek City government by 29.7%. That is not insignificant. Continue reading
Johns Creek receives many accolades throughout the year, and 2016 has not been an exception to that trend.
For many residents, concern over ever higher densities of residential real estate developments such as apartments and town homes has been a major concern. But the City of Johns Creek pushes ahead with ever more high density development with seemingly arbitrary lines drawn as to where the higher densities are permissible and where they are not.
Residents did not directly vote on these issues. They only have cast votes for those that decide on these issues. And as history has shown, there are not a plethora of voters that even bother to make their voices heard. That, however is changing.
There is a cost to current residents as more and more of these high density developments are approved and put into place.
Let’s ask the residents of Johns Creek who were here in 2007. Taking the data from the 2015 CAFR report (you can find it here: http://www.johnscreekga.gov/JCGA/Media/PDF-Finance/2015-cafr.pdf ) on page 61 shows Johns Creek had a population of 70,050 and a residential tax digest (page 79) of $3,215,735,140.
A simple calculation reveals that in 2007 we had $48,727 of residential real estate per resident.
How have the residents of 2007 fared over the course of the last 8 years? Well, not so well. Using the population counts and the residential tax digest from the same pages mentioned above, we can see that residents of Johns Creek have seen that number drop to $40,117 per resident, a decline of 17.67%.
| Residential Property Value Per Capita | |||
| Year | Residential Property | Population | |
| 2007 | $3,215,735,140.00 | 65994 | $48,727.69 |
| 2015 | $3,333,836,970.00 | 83102 | $40,117.41 |
| -17.67% | |||
| Source: Johns Creek CAFR 2015 | |||
Why are residents from years past seeing such a drop in values for their community at large over time? The drop in housing prices from the recession is behind most communities in our area and should certainly be behind us in Johns Creek.
I’ll blame that in large part to the additional higher density housing which has been added over the years and continues to be added even as we speak.
Those that move into higher density developments are those that are not buying the current real estate stock we have in Johns Creek. Fewer buyers for that real estate naturally lowers the selling prices of the real estate. Yes indeed, the supply and demand curve you had to learn about in high school and college is actually meaningful.
Additionally, all of this “new” higher density living is coming in at average price points below what the average homes in Johns Creek are worth.
So we have less demand lowering selling points and lower prices units pulling down the averages as well.
Also interestingly enough the amount of commercial real estate per resident is rising.
| Commercial Property Value Per Capita | |||
| Year | Commercial Property Value | Population | |
| 2007 | $691,897,960.00 | 65994 | $10,484.26 |
| 2015 | $879,818,130.00 | 83102 | $10,587.21 |
| 0.98% | |||
| Source: Johns Creek CAFR 2015 | |||
So as residential property values fall per resident, commercial property values are rising per resident.
I doubt that has been the objective of many of the residents within our community. Those that reside on Findley Road at City Hall are undoubtedly happy about this outcome, however.
After all, they are the ones who continue to vote and push us along this path of more commercial development and higher density housing.
Chances are, you have cast votes on more than one occasion to tax yourself via sales tax for education. traffic or other local projects. Chances are, you, like many others, felt it was just a penny here and there, and chances are you bought into the notion that others from outside your jurisdiction would also be paying the tax, which is a win-win for all but those outside of your community.
And chances are, you’d be wrong. Continue reading