$140 million contract awarded for I-85 HOT lane extension (Atlanta, Marietta: 2015, construction)

[Airforceguy]

I wish this money could have been spent on transit...Oh well, I-85 does need extra lanes past the I-985 split..

A contract for $139.6 million was awarded Tuesday to the Marietta-based road contractor to design and build a 10-mile extension of the existing I-85 HOT lane in Gwinnett County, the Georgia Department of Transportation announced. That means drivers will be able to bypass congestion on the heavily traveled northeast Atlanta corridor for a far longer stretch.

The project involves construction of a single toll lane in each direction between Old Peachtree Road and Hamilton Mill Road.

$140 million contract awarded for I-85 HOT lane extension | Route 666

[roadtrip75]

That is transit.

I don't see anything in the article about if and when the toll will be removed when the construction is paid for, as if that doesn't matter. That's the most important thing to the average reader.

[Gulch]

Originally Posted by roadtrip75

That is transit.

I don't see anything in the article about if and when the toll will be removed when the construction is paid for, as if that doesn't matter. That's the most important thing to the average reader.

That is not the point of the managed lanes program.

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by roadtrip75

That is transit.

I don't see anything in the article about if and when the toll will be removed when the construction is paid for, as if that doesn't matter. That's the most important thing to the average reader.

It sort of doesn't matter... for HOT lanes. It is general knowledge. It won't be removed and it won't earn enough to pay for the improvement and they never promised to remove it. That is how most all HOT lanes in the US are set up.

For the metro-wide system it is only anticipated to cover half of the costs, but they are beating expectations on the current I-85N corridor.

The tolling isn't designed to pay for the roadway, rather it is actually designed so the maximum number of cars can use the lane during periods of peak congestion.

If traffic slows too much, fewer cars would pass a single point. If cars go too fast, then they are spread out so far a part fewer cars use the lanes. Only the former is a natural problem in congestion. So they toll the lane trying to keep it flowing at a 45 mph minimum, so the maximum number of cars possible keep flowing by.

The end result is during off-peak periods the lane carries far fewer cars than the others, but during peak periods that single lane carries more cars than the other lanes individually.

For the state to accept federal money for the system, they must operate them for at least 10 years.

[sedimenjerry]

Hurry up and get something at the mall of GA. Every Sunday afternoon traffic backs up on 85SB with everyone getting on from the mall

[ATLTJL]

That means drivers will be able to bypass congestion on the heavily traveled northeast Atlanta corridor for a far longer stretch.

The problem is, this isn't always true.

Attempting to keep the HOT lane flowing at least 45 mph is a noble goal. Those of us who use it know this is rarely the case.

You can save SOME time, SOMETIMES by using the HOT lane. But MANY times, it is just as slow, and occasionally even SLOWER than the regular lanes.

I wish they would figure out how to make it work better, but I don't know what they could do aside from raising the price. I've seen the HOT lane crawl even when the price approaches $10. I think a lot of the time it makes traffic even worse as people try to figure out whether it is saving money and you have a lot of crossing into and out of the lane, which slows things down.

Of course, I'm not a traffic engineer, these are just my observations.

At least this new HOT lane will represent new capacity, not just a converted HOV lane like we got from Chamblee-Tucker to Old Peachtree. Maybe that will help some.

Construction sure is going to be fun!

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

The problem is, this isn't always true.

Attempting to keep the HOT lane flowing at least 45 mph is a noble goal. Those of us who use it know this is rarely the case.

You can save SOME time, SOMETIMES by using the HOT lane. But MANY times, it is just as slow, and occasionally even SLOWER than the regular lanes.

I wish they would figure out how to make it work better, but I don't know what they could do aside from raising the price. I've seen the HOT lane crawl even when the price approaches $10. I think a lot of the time it makes traffic even worse as people try to figure out whether it is saving money and you have a lot of crossing into and out of the lane, which slows things down.

Of course, I'm not a traffic engineer, these are just my observations.

At least this new HOT lane will represent new capacity, not just a converted HOV lane like we got from Chamblee-Tucker to Old Peachtree. Maybe that will help some.

Construction sure is going to be fun!

It isn't a bad observation. This was just the HOV to HOT conversation used as a federal 'demonstration.' The long-term managed lanes plans actually calls for the building of an additional HOT lane (new) in each direction on that stretch of I-85N. Only time will tell, but they are favoring slip lanes.

You will start to see them emerge in parts of this project: http://www.dot.ga.gov/DriveSmart/GEL...playBoard6.pdf

You will also see them used on the new I-75 South system.

[cwkimbro]

Btw, I just noticed one thing I think many people will like about this project ignoring the HOT lanes. They will also be building some Auxiliary lanes. One being from GA 20 to Lawrenceville-Suwanee Rd.

This means traffic from GA20 going south on I-85 won't have to merge into two lanes of traffic, rather it will start a third lane. That lane will continue past the merge with I-985, after that the far right lane will be an exit only to Lawrenceville-Suwanee Rd.

[cqholt]

I wish they would figure out how to make it work better, but I don't know what they could do aside from raising the price. I've seen the HOT lane crawl even when the price approaches $10. I think a lot of the time it makes traffic even worse as people try to figure out whether it is saving money and you have a lot of crossing into and out of the lane, which slows things down.

Give the HOT lanes dedicated exits lanes to major interchanges. That way it prevents drivers from having to merge into traffic, therefore backing up the HOT lanes.

[ATLTJL]

That's a great idea.

I know when I get onto the highway, I only have about a mile to get into the HOT lane, or else I have to wait several miles for another opportunity.

That means I have to cut across 5 lanes of traffic, including the fast lane, in a pretty short amount of time. The same thing applies for getting off the highway. Dedicated on and off ramps would help, but I can't imagine they will be built.