VOLUME 23 NUMBER 25
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ocgnews.com
Published Since April 1995 Serving DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry and Rockdale Counties
SEPTEMBER 16, 2017
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Irma hits DeKalb County hard
ABOVE LEFT: Crews at the Stonecrest Command Center set up transformers and other equipment needed to restore power to homes and business in DeKalb County. ABOVE RIGHT: Former Lithonia Mayor Darold Honore’ said a tree missed his house but tumbled and hit a car parked in his yard. Photos by Glenn L. Morgan/OCGNews
DeKalb CEO Michael Thurmond has declared a local state of emergency in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma. The tropical storm that followed Irma caused widespread damage throughout DeKalb as she left Florida and hit Georgia on Monday, Sept. 11. Thurmond said DeKalb had more power outages than any other county in the metro area as trees fell on power lines and areas were flooded by heavy rain. Thurmond’s declaration enabled DeKalb to be eligible for additional state and federal resources to aid in the response and recovery. “DeKalb County has taken the brunt of the hit of Irma in metro Atlanta,” Thurmond said. “Our ability to recover as soon as possible depends on the hard work of our dedicated employees and the resources
we receive.” At the peak of the storm, approximately 54 percent or 170,000 of the homes in DeKalb lost power. Hurricane Irma interrupted service to nearly 1 million Georgia Power customers across the state. Command stations throughout the metro area were set up to respond to the disaster. Many of these trees had live Georgia Power lines in them. Former Lithonia Darold Honore, who lives in Lithonia, said a tree fell on top of his car and knocked the power lines out on his house. Stonecrest Mayor Jason Lary said his power went out around noon when the storm hit. His power was out for three days. Lary said he and his wife, Debbie, spent a great deal of time reading by candlelight. He
also said they ate a lot of dry goods such as peanut butter and jelly and crackers. In addition to the power outage, the mayor’s cell phone carrier lost service as well. “It was horrible. I’ve never been without power for more than two hours, let alone three days,” said Larry. Laquetta Butler of South DeKalb said she lost power at her home off Boring Road in Decatur around 1 p.m. and stayed in a hotel for two days. Butler had to throw away all of the food she purchased for the storm. “There were people on one side of my street who had power while others on the opposite side had none. My house is surrounded by trees, but thank SEE IRMA, page 6
Atlanta launches first ever “smart” technology on North Avenue
The City of Atlanta has launched the city’s first ever “Smart” street. Officials rolled out the North Avenue Smart Corridor Project in a ceremony held on Sept. 14 at Ponce City Market. The North Avenue Smart Corridor, funded by the Renew Atlanta Infrastructure Bond, is now the most connected corridor in the state of Georgia. Officials say the new technology deploys adaptive traffic signals that change based on what is happening, eliminating stops and reducing wait times. They say the Surtrac adaptive signal system could reduce commute times by 25 percent along North Avenue, which carries more than 29,000 vehicles per day in some spots. Mayor Kasim Reed said the launch positions Atlanta as a national leader in the Smart Cities movement. “North Avenue connects some of our city’s most important institutions, companies and landmarks, including the Georgia Institute of Technology and our partners at GDOT. With the deployment of advanced technology at 18 intersections, we’ll promote a safer, more efficient flow of vehicle traffic, transit, bicyclists and pedestrians,” Reed said. “I am so pleased to reach this milestone, and congratulate everyone involved in this exciting, forward-looking effort.”
Nearly half of North Avenue is a state route (SR 8), making collaboration with the Georgia Department of Transportation essential. In coordination with GDOT, Renew Atlanta deployed technology and equipment at the signalized intersections along the corridor to support an adaptive traffic signal system, video surveillance and detection system, connected vehicle system and bluetooth travel time and origin destination system. Additionally, Renew Atlanta restriped the corridor to support improved safety and the demonstration of autonomous vehicles that rely on clear striping and signage to navigate the roadway. North Avenue was chosen for the Smart Corridor Demonstration Project because of its prominence as a major east-west artery in the City of Atlanta serving numerous destinations, institutions, and employment centers such as the Georgia Institute of Technology, The Coca-Cola Company, Georgia Department of Transportation and the MARTA North Avenue Station. The corridor is also served by numerous transit operators and routes, intersects with key bicycle routes, and includes 18 signalized intersections between Northside Drive and Freedom Parkway. The road’s unique features offer the City and Georgia Tech an opportunity to study how to improve safety over the current higher than average accident rates as well as better manage multimodal traffic flow during normal traffic conditions and during special events. Earlier this year, the City of Atlanta announced an expanded research partnership with Georgia Tech to capture data and turn this data into actionable information to improve operations along the corridor. “Georgia Tech has been working with the city of Atlanta since 2015 to design, implement and study Smart Cities initiatives. The North Avenue Smart Corridor represents a triumph of innovation and col-
laboration between the City of Atlanta, Georgia Tech and numerous businesses,” President G.P. “Bud” Peterson said. “By collecting and analyzing data and traffic patterns in the area immediately adjacent to our campus, our students, faculty and staff can partner with the City of Atlanta to create a safer and more efficient place to live, work and play.” In collaboration with the North Avenue Smart Corridor project, where advanced vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-roadside (V2R) technologies have been deployed by the CoA in an active testbed, GA Tech will leverage those technologies to advance a “Green Corridor.” The Georgia Tech team will further support the ongoing efforts though a hybrid implementation of data collection, data integration, data analytics and advanced simulation modeling. This project lays the foundation for further advancements in real-time, dynamic, data-driven Smart City applications and support online dashboards for system monitoring and operations, closing the control loop with tailored messages direct to individual travelers to reduce emission and energy usage, support real-time optimization of signal control strategies balancing travel time, throughput, emissions, and energy usage, integrating predictive analytics for near-future optimization and expansion of the system beyond North Avenue. Multiple companies based in Atlanta and the metropolitan area will demonstrate their technology on the Corridor. Applied Information, based in metropolitan Atlanta, is providing all of the connected-vehicle infrastructure for the Smart Corridor as well as the “Atlanta Travel Safely” smart phone app. The event at Ponce City Market also featured a demonstration of a vehicle that operates on its own provided by Applied Information, Wheego and TransDev.