Proposed I-75 Cumberland ramp now estimated at $51 million (Atlanta: construction, costs)

[Airforceguy]

The money for ramp was supposed to be available in August, but officials now realize they have to pay millions more for I-75 and I-285 construction to accommodate the ramp.

The Cumberland Community Improvement District proposed a ramp at Akers Mill Road in Cumberland as a part of the $834 million Northwest Corridor project. The ramp was supposed to connect Akers Mill Road directly to I-75 to alleviate some of the traffic in the area.

“Without the ramp, you have a congestion problem and a safety problem left unsolved,” CID Chairman Leithead said.

The Georgia Department of Transportation agreed to build the ramp if the CID could come up with the money to design and build it at an estimated cost of $22 million by a deadline set for this August, Leithead said.

“The August deadline is no longer relevant,” Leithead said. “That deadline was for us to raise $22 million for a $22 million project. This is no longer a $22 million project.”

Cobb County’s Board of Commissioners put $5 million behind the ramp in July and the CID sought other funding partners to cover the construction costs of the project. The CID had nearly reached their $22 million goal.

But a new study of the project set the costs even higher. The initial estimate didn’t account for the fact that the construction of the ramp is actually two projects in one, Leithead said.

“They’ve got to rebuild and widen the portal on I-75 to allow for the additional capacity that our ramp will create,” Leithead said. He added that the work on the portal alone could cost $18 million on top of the $22 million estimate to build the ramp itself. Other design problems bring the total costs to around $51 million, Leithead said.

Proposed I-75 Cumberland ramp now estimated at $51 million | www.ajc.com

[fourthwarden]

AFguy, are you, like, the public affairs guy for GDoT? You always seem to have their news out first, and have so many of their design drawings with your pictures...

[Airforceguy]

Originally Posted by fourthwarden

AFguy, are you, like, the public affairs guy for GDoT? You always seem to have their news out first, and have so many of their design drawings with your pictures...

No, but I wish I was. I'm a road geek so I like to follow the developments of GDOT.

[JoeP]

Is there an image of the where the ramp goes? I know the article has a video, but just wanted to see a map overlay...?

[primaltech]

Originally Posted by JoeP

Is there an image of the where the ramp goes? I know the article has a video, but just wanted to see a map overlay...?

It's just going to be a very simple ramp in the median of the highway, right here:
https://www.google.com/maps/@33.8870.../data=!3m1!1e3

Exactly the same as the existing side that faces towards Atlanta. It will be a 4-way HOV intersection.

[cqholt]

Get the popcorn, this dumpster fire keeps getting better.

[Sualpine]

Even more money Cobb could have spent putting into Marta.
I cannot wait for SunTrust Park to open.

[arjay57]

I wish we could have just one mega-thread about how horrible Cobb is for not joining MARTA.

[jero23]

Originally Posted by arjay57

I wish we could have just one mega-thread about how horrible Cobb is for not joining MARTA.

Oh hush up, you whine too much and cape for STUPIDITY. Cobb is a jurisdiction with that allows its elected officials to make STUPID decisions, so they DESERVE all the flack they are getting.

[primaltech]

Um, doesn't really matter, in this case. MARTA in Cobb or not, this northwest corridor HOT lanes project would still be being built today, and so would this particular ramp be needed, and it would still cost the same. I hope this initial cost figure is overestimated. I think it might be.

Just simply has to do with the suburban and car-based character of the ...suburbs. North Fulton looks and feels basically just like Cobb, and it's also going to to have a massive and expensive interchange construction project, as well as express lanes on 400. And they've had MARTA since its very inception.

If MARTA were in Cobb, Cobb would look and feel basically mostly the same. It would just have better transit options. Maybe Cumberland would be a little more built up, but it's doing that anyway. I say this as the biggest MARTA advocate- it wouldn't change very much about Cobb County and the suburbs and the way suburbs are designed and oriented. And most of the white people in the county would never, or only rarely ride MARTA. Maybe just to the airport.