If you live anywhere in the general vicinity of Atlanta, you’ve heard about all of the disasters that our roadways have been facing over the past month. For kicks and giggles, let’s go over them all again:
- I-85 bridge collapse caused by super fire (03/30)
- Chemical spill on Downtown Connector (04/17)
- I-20W highway buckle (04/18)
- 5th sinkhole (04/19)
Good grief.
On the bright side, the Georgia DOT says they’re on-track with repairing I-85. Plus, GDOT has announced that they’re repaving it while the road’s out of commission anyways, according to a WSB article. That’ll be nice when the highway does reopen.
The good news: an ABC News article says that GDOT estimates I-85 will open again on June 15th*. The bad news: it’s only the end of April.
So, what are we all supposed to do until then? That’s two months’ worth of horrible traffic that we can all look forward to. With disasters hitting the city’s roads left and right, it’s time to take action to do what we can to thwart the worst of the traffic. Not beat it, perhaps, but we can try.
An app called Waze provides traffic updates and reports to help you find the best route to get to your destination. It works be creating a community of drivers who share each other’s pain and allowing them to connect with each other to share data about traffic.
It’ll give you route options and estimate how much time it’ll take you to get to where you’re trying to go, so you can pick your battle when it comes to the traffic. All you have to do is open the app while you drive, and you’re contributing lots of valuable traffic info to the community.
Plus, other users can help by sharing about routes or tricks that you might not have known about or considered before. You can share traffic info, tips, and updates through the app, and, likewise, you can see what other people have talked about, so you have a heads-up about any areas in particular that you may want to avoid. The app will even give you a new route if it senses that there’s a better way to go while you’re commuting.
Interested in learning more? Watch this video about the Waze app! Or you can visit the Waze website to read all about what the app can do for you. Ready to download? You can get Waze through Google Play and the Apple App Store if you want to start outsmarting the traffic.
For more help with combating the Atlanta traffic, check out this article about tips for surviving a rush hour commute. The key is to lower your stress level. The traffic isn’t going anywhere, but that doesn’t mean that it has to ruin your day.
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*Article updated on 04/27.