The Sandy Springs Fire and Police Departments have concerns that the additional isolated lanes the Georgia Department of Transportation constructed for its Transform 285/400 project have made emergency responses more difficult and take longer.
The number of collector and distributor lanes has made it confusing, Police Chief Ken DeSimone told the Sandy Springs City Council during its April 30 meeting.
“If you can tell us exactly where you are, we can probably find you,” he said. “But if you don’t know where you’re at, that makes it difficult for us.”
The police chief said a suicide was reported several months ago where someone jumped off the flyaway lane for GA 400 southbound to 285 eastbound. DeSimone said he was out driving and could see the police cars high on the flyaway lane and could see the victim down below on 285. But he couldn’t get to them.
“We need to have GDOT do a better job of helping motorists identify where they are in an emergency,” Mayor Rusty Paul said. “I’ve gone through all those lanes, and it’s run across my mind how do we get to some of these folks in an emergency.”
Fire Chief Keith Sanders told the Sandy Springs City Council that GDOT did not consult with his department until after designs were completed. They suggested that the state agency color code the roads to make it easier for confused motorists to tell emergency dispatchers where they were.
Response times are affected with fire crews having to drive miles in the opposite direction to get on the correct lane in the Transform 285/400 project area.
GDOT has not responded to a requested for comment.