JCP received this response"...the campaign is following its own timeline on the discussion of the the issues most important to Nazeera for Johns Creek." Craig N. Kidd
Campaign Manager, Nazeera for Johns Creek
Really? Is Broadbent actually saying we need another traffic study????? How many studies do we need? This issue has been getting worse with each passing year. Have we not studied this problem enough yet? How bout we stop studying and talking about it and actually do something!
Mark Siegman
8 years ago
Choosing not to answer a question addressing traffic (particularly in light of the miserable gridlock now occurring; the issue most impacting every citizen of Johns Creek) is an automatic disqualification for office and reason not to support these candidates. Existing leadership has failed dismally in this area; those running for office who choose not to answer on traffic are not qualified to be considered.
MJT
8 years ago
I suppose those that did not answer need more time to "come up with something" that sounds good. as a response. To me, their lack of response shows that don't have a clue.
Michele Sarkisian
8 years ago
Thanks for asking candidates for their ideas! It is good to see some specifics beyond just seeing that large sums of money have been budgeted to address the issue. I think talking with surrounding communities about a coordinated plan makes a lot of sense as we are not an island. I look forward to hearing more workable solutions including what we can do to prevent worse traffic and less safe traffic conditions.
Harold
8 years ago
* The city has to become more bike/walking friendly. To jump in our car just to drive 1-2 miles is a bit much.
* Expanding the roads would be helpful as well, but it will affect some of the landscapes.
* I will look into the Google "Wave" technology....not familiar with that.
* Choosing NOT to answer is ridiculous.....that is an indication of a candidate who is not serious about their position.
Additional bike and sidewalks will do nothing to ease commute traffic. The city has failed miserably towards even keeping up with the growth, let alone getting ahead of it.
Timing the lights EFFECTIVELY would help tremendously in the interim, but they don't seem to even be able to get that right.
NOT tearing up so many sections of our roads and arteries simultaneously would also help tremendously. Going from one bottleneck only to be stopped at another and then another and then have to endure sitting through numerous poorly timed lights only adds to the frustration for so many of us living in JC.
Furthermore drivers are becoming more and more aggressive in JC all the time. They run red lights and tailgate, which is more than likely due to the frustration of trying to get through the city. Road rage is on the rise in JC is big time.
More often than not it takes me 30 minutes (or more) to travel 6 miles in JC at 9:45 am. That is not even commute hour...
AND NO MORE STUDIES please. I think thousands of JC residents can tell JC decision makers where the issues are and how to resolve them for free. Or, maybe they could hire competent people in the first place.
Please no more traffic flow studies-- HERE is the PROBLEM LIST
Time the lights to run a continuous flow down Medlock/141 from 400 to 285 from 7am-9am and from 4:30pm -6:30pm.Lets get our residents to work on time and home to spend time with their families- not sitting in traffic.
Make turn lane times longer with at PEAK times- not all the time.
Get the traffic around our schools fixed: Here are hot topics for the commuters stuck JC's school backlog at 7:15am until 8:45am.
FIX the turns Into Abbotts Hill ES.
Open up Parson's Road - FIX the Bridge.
Extended turn TIME between: 7:15am and 8:45am.
Taylor Road @ Jones Bridge
States Bridge @ Kendall Bridge
Abbotts Bridge @ Jones Bridge
Webb Bridge@ Kendall Bridge
Seargent @ Jones Bridge.
Medlock ES needs better traffic flow for drop off to move the traffic off Medlock Bridge & out of in front of our fire department which is blocked from exiting the intersection when they need to go save our residents.
The problem is that Forsyth & Gwinnett have had population explosions. McGinnis and 141 were widened creating a commuter path for these counties right through JC. So... road projects we keep believing will alleviate the JC resident traffic problems only create more room for increasing volumes of traffic traveling through our city. In the last year alone, The number of cars traveling on Medlock/141 (specifically in the stretch between State & Abbotts) almost doubled. Went from 32k cars a day to 58k. That just represents the increase number of cars on 141 alone. Judging from observation, I'd say that approximately the same astronomical increase has hit all our roads. Again, this increase is just the last year. If we keep spending money on the big commuter arteries, we will never see any benefit to JC residents because the generated capacity will just continue to fill in with Gwinnett/Forsyth travelers. Aggressive and lawless driving is behavior that our city doesn't address through traffic enforcement and for some reason must not find a priority since the efforts and results around traffic enforcement haven't really changed year over year (barring comparing to certain years before JC was city). Solid enforcement practices by police can cut traffic accidents by 10% or more according to studies. Next, we incorporate some of the highest risk models into our roads. One example is the dedicated right turn lanes with concrete islands merging to single lanes and forcing moving right turns to yield to on-coming drivers making left turns across an intersection with a green for instance. Of all the possible configurations for right turns, this is the statistically highest risk. I believe the city 1) needs to emphasize local traffic relief on secondary road solutions and stop spending all the time and resource on the commuter turnpikes running through JC. 2) Allocate more of our law enforcement resources to traffic related initiatives such as enforcement and look at alternatives to how non-injury accident responses are managed. 3) Slow down and take the time to fully understand the implications of the road structures and controls they put in place. Once we put them in, we never take them out. If we can't be sure that something will improve a problem and won't create new problems or worsen other existing problems, we shouldn't do it.
I think it's a mistake to equate spending and construction with "improvement" automatically. We need to think about what are we trying to improve and is what we propose will truly result in an improvement. For instance, we can be sure that more spending, construction and improvement to main arteries (141, State Br., Jones Bridge, Old Alabama,etc) will improve the drive to work for Forsyth & Gwinnett residents and draw even more of their commuters through JC. So the next question is, when that happens, will the "improvement" still make things better for JC residents regardless of also resulting in higher traffic volumes? If the answer is yes, it's a good thing. If the answer is no, there may be a better plan to focus our efforts on.
I don't know if it's possible given the source of funding for these projects though.
What is the source of your data for "The number of cars traveling on Medlock/141 (specifically in the stretch between State & Abbotts) almost doubled."
GDOT data does not show the explosion of traffic you suggest. GDOT data shows that 2014 volumes for that stretch are below that we had in 2006.
ERNEST... you can request the results of the last traffic study of 141 from GDOT. You can also ask the city of johns creek. It was discussed during a live stream of a council meeting a short while back.
The comments from the city were a response to an email I submitted challenging their assumptions of this ever growing volume of traffic as the cause of what ails us. I suggested that we have another reason for our growing congestion.
I gave you the link to the actual traffic data above. It does not support what you have stated.
Traffic at that location also did not rise from 32k to 58k in one year. You can see that for yourself as well. Click on the annual statistics on the link
This is the Wilson Road location you are referencing in your comments. 40,500 was the last survey's volume in 2014, and not 58k.
You can contact me at my website and I will be more than happy to share with you the research I have done as well as provide you with a copy of my most recent response to the COJC, which is a reply to what they have posted on NextDoor and other locations.
We have to identify the right problem before we can apply the right solution.
Ernest, You are quoting data published from 2014. Whether it's been published by GDOT or not, they conducted a count in the described area in 2015. The numbers I quoted came from GDOT in reference to that 2015 count. According to GDOT, the traffic volume at peak times of day in fact has risen substantially. I would recommend that you call GDOT directly.
Beth, you quoted an increase from one year to the next that is not possible. Your " before " data is incorrect.
You stated "Went from 32k cars a day to 58k".
What year was your 32k a day? It was not 2014.
I have spoken to GDOT, specifically about the data and the numbers from the GDOT traffic server website.
There is also 2015 data available for locations where the data has been collected.
I encourage you to review not only the Wilson Road location, but the entire corridor, as well as all of the other locations within Johns Creek as I have.
I am becoming very confused by your replies. At first you implied the data I provided was from 2014, not 2015 as I stated. This last reply states there is data for 2015 for locations where they have collected data and reference to a picture that goes well beyond the boundaries of the data set I discussed initially. I don't have time to go back to GDOT this week to see if they can provide me the count I am referencing. When I do get a chance, I'll put the info out here for you.
Have you seen the traffic document published by the COJC that shows traffic count in March 2015 for Wilson Rd at 45524 vs the 2014 count of 40500? It may have additional information in it for your analysis.
CT
8 years ago
Why would anyone vote for a candidate that choses not to answer questions? If he/she has no ideas before deciding to run for office, then he/she is not prepared and has no business running.
We need people that will not have to be trained when they take office.
Might the weak candidates please drop out, rather than dilute the vote for stronger candidates. Just saying...
There is allot of time sensitive long overdue work to be done by our city council. We need new council members that KNOW the ropes from the get go. That's Stephanie Endres and Tom Radford; both of whom have been actively interested and consistantly engaged in Johns Creek city affairs for years.
Now is the opportunity to vote in folks that can make a positive difference! That's Stephanie and Tom for sure.
Marie W.
8 years ago
I have never been to a city council meeting and I would have better answers than the most of these candidates. If Nazeera and Jay Lin don't have solutions than we know they won't do anything different if elected.
Chris is correct we need to resolve the traffic issues NOW! Stephanie is on the right track wanting to plan for the future and Tom wants to fix dangerous intersections. All the rest want to address traffic with rezoning. Well that doesn't fix the roads currently.
Arun Misra has the right idea for increasing our chances for better traffic flow and mobility for are aging citizens. As a disabled senior I applaud his view. Carole Madan Momma Nature
Sidewalks are needed, but tearing up the existing ones to widen them is a waste of money. If a sidewalk is on one side of the road it does not need to be on the otherside too. How about taking care of the bridge that has been out on PARSON's for over a year.!
They are already tearing up new sidewalk on the south side of Old Alabama Road in front of Perimeter Church that had been poured less than 2 months ago! What a waste of labor, resources, and money!
Kristina - fed up with TRAFFIC
8 years ago
OK Whose insaine idea is it to fix the Statesbridge/Medlock intersection with a UTURN Bypass for left turns-- this is going to cause the cut through at perimeter church to be clogged. It will cause, the intersection before Johns Creek High to be DANGEROUS for our walkers at Johns Creek High. It will endanger the customers in the shopping center with cut through drivers going through TARGET and Home Depot which is already a drivers nightmare. The customers will choose to go elsewhere to shop due to the confusion at this intersection. Drivers WILL GET IN WRECKS trying to get from the left hand lane to the right hand lane to go right to make a left.
The access to the Public's and Whole Foods for those coming south will make those shops have less customers. The logistics will make customers choose to go elsewhere.
Jo
8 years ago
Major problem to fix is HIRE MORE POLICE!!!! I am sick and tired of sitting in traffic on SBR going east from JBR towards Medlock while people are holding up traffic because they are TEXTING and not watching traffic flow. I don't know how many times I rolled down my window and yelled out "Driving or texting"??? Plus they are swerving. One woman had her IPAD resting on the steering wheel!!!! Sick of it! I want to get home! It's constant!!!! Please!!!!!
Helpful suggestion
8 years ago
Try contacting the JC Police and tell them about this specific area and the times when you find it problematic, so they can police this area for a while. We just added 4 more police and are now up to 72 police, so I don't think it is for lack of police.
Why would a candidate choose not to answer? Don't they have any ideas on how they would try to correct the problems of the city?
JCP received this response"...the campaign is following its own timeline on the discussion of the the issues most important to Nazeera for Johns Creek." Craig N. Kidd
Campaign Manager, Nazeera for Johns Creek
Really? Is Broadbent actually saying we need another traffic study????? How many studies do we need? This issue has been getting worse with each passing year. Have we not studied this problem enough yet? How bout we stop studying and talking about it and actually do something!
Choosing not to answer a question addressing traffic (particularly in light of the miserable gridlock now occurring; the issue most impacting every citizen of Johns Creek) is an automatic disqualification for office and reason not to support these candidates. Existing leadership has failed dismally in this area; those running for office who choose not to answer on traffic are not qualified to be considered.
I suppose those that did not answer need more time to "come up with something" that sounds good. as a response. To me, their lack of response shows that don't have a clue.
Thanks for asking candidates for their ideas! It is good to see some specifics beyond just seeing that large sums of money have been budgeted to address the issue. I think talking with surrounding communities about a coordinated plan makes a lot of sense as we are not an island. I look forward to hearing more workable solutions including what we can do to prevent worse traffic and less safe traffic conditions.
* The city has to become more bike/walking friendly. To jump in our car just to drive 1-2 miles is a bit much.
* Expanding the roads would be helpful as well, but it will affect some of the landscapes.
* I will look into the Google "Wave" technology....not familiar with that.
* Choosing NOT to answer is ridiculous.....that is an indication of a candidate who is not serious about their position.
Additional bike and sidewalks will do nothing to ease commute traffic. The city has failed miserably towards even keeping up with the growth, let alone getting ahead of it.
Timing the lights EFFECTIVELY would help tremendously in the interim, but they don't seem to even be able to get that right.
NOT tearing up so many sections of our roads and arteries simultaneously would also help tremendously. Going from one bottleneck only to be stopped at another and then another and then have to endure sitting through numerous poorly timed lights only adds to the frustration for so many of us living in JC.
Furthermore drivers are becoming more and more aggressive in JC all the time. They run red lights and tailgate, which is more than likely due to the frustration of trying to get through the city. Road rage is on the rise in JC is big time.
More often than not it takes me 30 minutes (or more) to travel 6 miles in JC at 9:45 am. That is not even commute hour...
AND NO MORE STUDIES please. I think thousands of JC residents can tell JC decision makers where the issues are and how to resolve them for free. Or, maybe they could hire competent people in the first place.
Please no more traffic flow studies-- HERE is the PROBLEM LIST
Time the lights to run a continuous flow down Medlock/141 from 400 to 285 from 7am-9am and from 4:30pm -6:30pm.Lets get our residents to work on time and home to spend time with their families- not sitting in traffic.
Make turn lane times longer with at PEAK times- not all the time.
Get the traffic around our schools fixed: Here are hot topics for the commuters stuck JC's school backlog at 7:15am until 8:45am.
FIX the turns Into Abbotts Hill ES.
Open up Parson's Road - FIX the Bridge.
Extended turn TIME between: 7:15am and 8:45am.
Taylor Road @ Jones Bridge
States Bridge @ Kendall Bridge
Abbotts Bridge @ Jones Bridge
Webb Bridge@ Kendall Bridge
Seargent @ Jones Bridge.
Medlock ES needs better traffic flow for drop off to move the traffic off Medlock Bridge & out of in front of our fire department which is blocked from exiting the intersection when they need to go save our residents.
The problem is that Forsyth & Gwinnett have had population explosions. McGinnis and 141 were widened creating a commuter path for these counties right through JC. So... road projects we keep believing will alleviate the JC resident traffic problems only create more room for increasing volumes of traffic traveling through our city. In the last year alone, The number of cars traveling on Medlock/141 (specifically in the stretch between State & Abbotts) almost doubled. Went from 32k cars a day to 58k. That just represents the increase number of cars on 141 alone. Judging from observation, I'd say that approximately the same astronomical increase has hit all our roads. Again, this increase is just the last year. If we keep spending money on the big commuter arteries, we will never see any benefit to JC residents because the generated capacity will just continue to fill in with Gwinnett/Forsyth travelers. Aggressive and lawless driving is behavior that our city doesn't address through traffic enforcement and for some reason must not find a priority since the efforts and results around traffic enforcement haven't really changed year over year (barring comparing to certain years before JC was city). Solid enforcement practices by police can cut traffic accidents by 10% or more according to studies. Next, we incorporate some of the highest risk models into our roads. One example is the dedicated right turn lanes with concrete islands merging to single lanes and forcing moving right turns to yield to on-coming drivers making left turns across an intersection with a green for instance. Of all the possible configurations for right turns, this is the statistically highest risk. I believe the city 1) needs to emphasize local traffic relief on secondary road solutions and stop spending all the time and resource on the commuter turnpikes running through JC. 2) Allocate more of our law enforcement resources to traffic related initiatives such as enforcement and look at alternatives to how non-injury accident responses are managed. 3) Slow down and take the time to fully understand the implications of the road structures and controls they put in place. Once we put them in, we never take them out. If we can't be sure that something will improve a problem and won't create new problems or worsen other existing problems, we shouldn't do it.
I think it's a mistake to equate spending and construction with "improvement" automatically. We need to think about what are we trying to improve and is what we propose will truly result in an improvement. For instance, we can be sure that more spending, construction and improvement to main arteries (141, State Br., Jones Bridge, Old Alabama,etc) will improve the drive to work for Forsyth & Gwinnett residents and draw even more of their commuters through JC. So the next question is, when that happens, will the "improvement" still make things better for JC residents regardless of also resulting in higher traffic volumes? If the answer is yes, it's a good thing. If the answer is no, there may be a better plan to focus our efforts on.
I don't know if it's possible given the source of funding for these projects though.
What is the source of your data for "The number of cars traveling on Medlock/141 (specifically in the stretch between State & Abbotts) almost doubled."
GDOT data does not show the explosion of traffic you suggest. GDOT data shows that 2014 volumes for that stretch are below that we had in 2006.
http://trafficserver.transmetric.com/gdot-prod/tcdb.jsp?siteid=1210358
ERNEST... you can request the results of the last traffic study of 141 from GDOT. You can also ask the city of johns creek. It was discussed during a live stream of a council meeting a short while back.
Beth,
The comments from the city were a response to an email I submitted challenging their assumptions of this ever growing volume of traffic as the cause of what ails us. I suggested that we have another reason for our growing congestion.
I gave you the link to the actual traffic data above. It does not support what you have stated.
Traffic at that location also did not rise from 32k to 58k in one year. You can see that for yourself as well. Click on the annual statistics on the link
http://trafficserver.transmetric.com/gdot-prod/tcdb.jsp?siteid=1210358
This is the Wilson Road location you are referencing in your comments. 40,500 was the last survey's volume in 2014, and not 58k.
You can contact me at my website and I will be more than happy to share with you the research I have done as well as provide you with a copy of my most recent response to the COJC, which is a reply to what they have posted on NextDoor and other locations.
We have to identify the right problem before we can apply the right solution.
Ernest, You are quoting data published from 2014. Whether it's been published by GDOT or not, they conducted a count in the described area in 2015. The numbers I quoted came from GDOT in reference to that 2015 count. According to GDOT, the traffic volume at peak times of day in fact has risen substantially. I would recommend that you call GDOT directly.
Beth, you quoted an increase from one year to the next that is not possible. Your " before " data is incorrect.
You stated "Went from 32k cars a day to 58k".
What year was your 32k a day? It was not 2014.
I have spoken to GDOT, specifically about the data and the numbers from the GDOT traffic server website.
There is also 2015 data available for locations where the data has been collected.
I encourage you to review not only the Wilson Road location, but the entire corridor, as well as all of the other locations within Johns Creek as I have.
It paints a different picture.
I am becoming very confused by your replies. At first you implied the data I provided was from 2014, not 2015 as I stated. This last reply states there is data for 2015 for locations where they have collected data and reference to a picture that goes well beyond the boundaries of the data set I discussed initially. I don't have time to go back to GDOT this week to see if they can provide me the count I am referencing. When I do get a chance, I'll put the info out here for you.
Have you seen the traffic document published by the COJC that shows traffic count in March 2015 for Wilson Rd at 45524 vs the 2014 count of 40500? It may have additional information in it for your analysis.
Why would anyone vote for a candidate that choses not to answer questions? If he/she has no ideas before deciding to run for office, then he/she is not prepared and has no business running.
We need people that will not have to be trained when they take office.
Might the weak candidates please drop out, rather than dilute the vote for stronger candidates. Just saying...
There is allot of time sensitive long overdue work to be done by our city council. We need new council members that KNOW the ropes from the get go. That's Stephanie Endres and Tom Radford; both of whom have been actively interested and consistantly engaged in Johns Creek city affairs for years.
Now is the opportunity to vote in folks that can make a positive difference! That's Stephanie and Tom for sure.
I have never been to a city council meeting and I would have better answers than the most of these candidates. If Nazeera and Jay Lin don't have solutions than we know they won't do anything different if elected.
Chris is correct we need to resolve the traffic issues NOW! Stephanie is on the right track wanting to plan for the future and Tom wants to fix dangerous intersections. All the rest want to address traffic with rezoning. Well that doesn't fix the roads currently.
Arun Misra has the right idea for increasing our chances for better traffic flow and mobility for are aging citizens. As a disabled senior I applaud his view. Carole Madan Momma Nature
Arun Misra, I will be voting for him!
Wasting money building sidewalks is a reason we're not fixing our traffic problems!
Sidewalks are needed, but tearing up the existing ones to widen them is a waste of money. If a sidewalk is on one side of the road it does not need to be on the otherside too. How about taking care of the bridge that has been out on PARSON's for over a year.!
They are already tearing up new sidewalk on the south side of Old Alabama Road in front of Perimeter Church that had been poured less than 2 months ago! What a waste of labor, resources, and money!
OK Whose insaine idea is it to fix the Statesbridge/Medlock intersection with a UTURN Bypass for left turns-- this is going to cause the cut through at perimeter church to be clogged. It will cause, the intersection before Johns Creek High to be DANGEROUS for our walkers at Johns Creek High. It will endanger the customers in the shopping center with cut through drivers going through TARGET and Home Depot which is already a drivers nightmare. The customers will choose to go elsewhere to shop due to the confusion at this intersection. Drivers WILL GET IN WRECKS trying to get from the left hand lane to the right hand lane to go right to make a left.
The access to the Public's and Whole Foods for those coming south will make those shops have less customers. The logistics will make customers choose to go elsewhere.
Major problem to fix is HIRE MORE POLICE!!!! I am sick and tired of sitting in traffic on SBR going east from JBR towards Medlock while people are holding up traffic because they are TEXTING and not watching traffic flow. I don't know how many times I rolled down my window and yelled out "Driving or texting"??? Plus they are swerving. One woman had her IPAD resting on the steering wheel!!!! Sick of it! I want to get home! It's constant!!!! Please!!!!!
Try contacting the JC Police and tell them about this specific area and the times when you find it problematic, so they can police this area for a while. We just added 4 more police and are now up to 72 police, so I don't think it is for lack of police.