In what has been Georgia's worst road icing in at least 10 years, I feel that I, as a driver and a taxpayer, must salute those people on Georgia DOT (GDOT) and various local government road crews who are working their butts off to help get our roads back to normal.

GDOT crews have been working around-the-clock in 12-hour shifts, using road crews from all over the state, plus bringing in some private contractors for reinforcements. When the efforts are finally done, it is estimated that it will cost at least US$6,000,000 in our state tax money. From what I've seen and heard about so far, it will be money well spent. Hopefully, we won't have to spend money on such efforts again anytime soon.

As a driver, I have been doing my part by staying put here at GRG HQ. Granted, it hasn't exactly felt like a vacation, but thankfully, Mary and I had enough provisions to last us the week. I did flirt with the idea of making the long trek to my "real job", but after seeing the traffic problems on local television, I'm happy that I stayed home.

As of 6:30 PM tonight (1/12/2011), GDOT is advising drivers in Metro Atlanta and North Georgia to "avoid travel through Thursday". Please click here for the full advisory from Georgia Navigator.

Finally, I applaud City of Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed for recognizing that cities, counties, and the state should not be arguing about who is responsible for clearing the surface streets. If said surface street within their county or city limits is a state-maintained highway, and the local government has the resources and capability to clear them, then said local government should deal with it! While there may be ways that GDOT and local governments could have responded quicker or better, it is my hope that they will all come together in a "post-mortem", agree on what went well, and create and implement the best strategy possible next time Old Man Winter brings down the hammer on us.

Again, kudos to all GDOT and local road crews who are working hard to make all our roads, from the Interstates (GDOT's top priority) to subdivision streets, safe for us to drive on. In the meantime, we can be of best assistance by staying home (or otherwise limiting travel) and staying out of their way.

That's it for now. Thanks for reading, stay home, stay warm, and stay safe!

P.S. Another "ROADGEEK-CAM!!!" episode is coming soon to the GRG YouTube channel and please check out the GRG Facebook and Twitter pages for updates between blogs.

 

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