Real Estate Report Special section ►►PAGE 16
'We own the mistakes' Schools take blame for jam ►►PAGE 4
Good samaritans Residents open hearts, homes ►►PAGE 6
New Birmingham Cross raised Symbol of welcome for congregation ►►PAGE 10
February 5, 2014 | northfulton.com | 73,500 circulation Revue & News, Johns Creek Herald, Milton Herald & Forsyth Herald combined | 50¢ | Volume 9, No. 6
Cities grapple with gridlock, snow Frustrated’ crews respond to clogged traffic By JONATHAN COPSEY jonathan@northfulton.com NORTH FULTON, Ga. – If you ever wanted to know what Atlanta’s roads looked like with every resident driving on them, Tuesday, Jan. 28 should give a glimpse. Schools, businesses and governments all shut down about the same time, turning workers out onto the streets at the same time. Variously called “Snowmageddon,” “Snowpocalypse,” or “SnOMG,” local governments were quickly overwhelmed by the sheer volume of motorists on the road and the worsening conditions throughout the day. A commute that would normally take 20 minutes turned into a 10-, 14- or 20-hour drive. Alpharetta had 50 Public Works Department employees begin salting the roads as the snow began on Tuesday, said Public Works Director Pete Sewczwicz. Over the course of Tuesday and the following day, Sewczwicz said hundreds of tons of sand and salt were put down by workers working 12-hour shifts. Unfortunately, as traffic grew, so did the problems. “We had all our trucks ready to go,” he said. “Our problem is we couldn’t get anywhere once we treated it once.” The worst intersections and bridges were hit first, however, with the sluggish lines of traffic, the salt trucks could not get to the hot spots quickly; nor could they return to those already treated. The trucks became as stuck as the traffic. It’s a problem a frustrated Sewczwicz said was unavoidable. “When cars are backed up and you cannot get your vehicles there to treat roads again,” he said, “and where people are stopped in snow and rain, you get ice. There’s nothing we can do with that. We were frustrated. Because of the saturation of traffic, we couldn’t do more.” A solution showed itself later in the
Above, in Milton, Hopewell Road was like so many others – clogged with traffic and abandoned vehicles. day as the salt trucks began using police cruisers as escorts to move traffic aside. Conditions became so bad, local police departments refused to help stranded motorists or come to fender-benders. “People didn’t know where to turn,” said Lisa Holland, with the Roswell Police Department. 911 call centers were busy with endless calls for help and police. “We had to save our resources for the most serious calls,” Holland said. “In 30 years, I’ve never seen anything like this.”
See GRIDLOCK, Page 4
LOU HABLAS
Fulton County Schools let out just as the snow began, leaving students stranded on buses and in classrooms due to heavy traffic.