Atlanta shows off its traffic to the president

President Donald Trump was in Atlanta on Friday and so was Billy Joel. The president was in town to speak to the National Rifle Association’s convention that was expected to draw 80,000. While here he also did a fundraiser for 6th District Republican candidate Karen Handel. Neither event was easy on the pocketbook. The price for entry into the fundraiser was $2,700 per person or $25,000 to host. Joel, was up the street at the brand new SunTrust Park where the ticket price hit above $500 to hear him belt out “It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me,” in the 41,149 seat baseball stadium. In the meantime, the Georgia State Patrol on Friday afternoon, just as the afternoon rush was getting started blocked eastbound Interstate-20 at Capital Avenue and Interstate-75/85 northbound, south of I-20 to allow presidential motorcade to head to northeast Atlanta for the fundraiser.

This is only important because the “City Too Busy To Hate” has become the “City Too Busy To Move.” You literally can’t get there from here, or from anywhere else. You can’t even get there from inside there. The most talked about topic by Atlantans is the gridlock the city is experiencing. And it’s not just on the major highways. The sinkhole that opened on 5th Street at Cypress Street in Midtown April 19 that closed the area to vehicles and pedestrians will remain closed for another two weeks according to a city spokesperson.

And if you’re thinking about traveling to Atlanta, think twice. You can use your time more wisely than twiddling your thumbs in a hot vehicle stopped in traffic, miles from your destination, breathing diesel fumes with a few thousand of your newest closest friends.

We understand the Georgia Department of Transportation has to do its maintenance work, and we also realize that on major highways, there is never a good time for work to be done, but by our count, there were seven road projects scheduled on I-75 between Macon and the Interstate-285 beltway on Saturday. On I-85, between Columbus and Atlanta, there were five projects. Most, if not all, should be cleared by the time you read this, but if you were caught in the Friday or Saturday traffic and were left shaking your head, it wasn’t your imagination. And having Trump and Joel in town didn’t help one bit.

This story was originally published April 27, 2017 at 9:00 PM with the headline "Atlanta shows off its traffic to the president."