The Latest I-75 / I-575 Toll Lane Revival
By Jonathan Carnright May 14, 2012, 11:15am EDT
It's baaaack...the proposal to add reversible toll lanes on I-75 and I-575 from the Perimeter to points north, that is. After landing a giant rejection stamp from Governor Deal last year, the construction project is moving forward, with bidding from the private sector expected next month. In addition to those monies, the plan calls for public funding in the form of the motor fuel tax ($300M), a loan from the feds ($270M), and a chunk of the GDOT construction budget ($200M). In all, we're talking $950,000,000 - not a small amount by any means, but a good bit less than the $4B estimate of the original version of the plan from 2005, which would have added eight new lanes. Gov. Deal couldn't handle the restrictions that the previous iteration would have put on the state, namely that it limited future transportation improvements in the corridor and that the toll lanes were to have been privately owned for, oh, 60-70 years. After seven years of attempts, will this public-private partnership finally get the notoriously clogged northwest 'burban roadways out of the traffic pits? You know what they saying about building your way out of congestion with more lanes...
· Georgia to resurrect Northwest Corridor project [Atlanta Business Chronicle]