CBS-46 Updates Lack of Progress on Howell Mill

As promised, CBS-46’s Adam Murphy has stayed with the story of how the Howell Mill Widening hell project has gone nowhere fast. Look here (link don’t work so great no more) for the video from May 21 titled: Construction Continues On Howell Mill. Thank you, CBS-46 and Adam Murphy for continuing to cover this immensely frustrating situation.

Deadlines Pass. People Notice.

From a May 13, 2008 email to the City’s Public Works/Transportation Dept. about the completion of the Howell Mill Rd. widening project:

Ms. Bell-Smith,

I am curious if you have an update on the Howell Mill Road Widening Project.  Per your update below (April 4, 2008), the utility relocation portion of the Project was to complete by April 21st with median construction and paving to start immediately after.  The new Traffic Poles are up and with lights tied into the Control box and the new Utility transmission and distribution poles are in with a majority of the service moved.  That is as of a couple weeks ago and since then there has been no movement.  Additionally, the contractors left the sidewalk areas at the intersections a complete mess.  I guess they figured the next crew would be right behind them to fix it.At any rate, the schedule is off from what was stated below.  A new update for the Neighborhoods affected would be appreciated.  As an FYI, I checked the City Website ( http://www.atlantaga.gov/government/publicworks/howellmillroadwideningproject.aspx) for this Project prior to creating this email, but the information is outdated there as well.

I look forward to your quick response.

 

 

Michael Wagoner

The City responds to Michael (of Berkley Park Neighborhood Association):

Hi Michael,
 
We have been working diligently to ensure that the project moves toward completion.  However, we are still in the utility relocation phase due to conflicting schedules in coordination with Bellsouth and Georgia Power to relocate utility lines and remove old utility poles.  A detailed update will be published on Friday of this week.  
 
Thanks for your interest and assistance with keeping the BPNA informed.
 
Valerie Bell-Smith

Policy & Legislative Services Administrator

Department of Public Works

Office of Transportation

55 Trinity Avenue, SW, Ste 4500

Atlanta, GA 30335

vbell-smith@atlantaga.gov <blocked::mailto:vbell-smith@atlantaga.gov>

(404) 330-6215 – Office

(404) 658-7978 – Fax

The thing is, you can paint stuff and shuffle utility poles all on Howell Mill Road ’til the cows come home, but how is that supposed to ease the massive car congestion without adding any additional lanes?

Take a Tour Of Howell Mill Traffic

Where The Problem Lies

View Larger Map

Welcome to Howell Mill Hell!

Welcome to Howell Mill Hell, a blog just about the City of Atlanta traffic nightmare of congestion along Howell Mill Road near the I-75 intersection. things related to the Underwood Hills neighborhood.

Let’s kick things off with a look at CBS46’s Consumer Report by Adam Murphy about how businesses along Howell Mill have been impacted by City of Atlanta’s traffic “improvement” project. That is here.