Gov. Deal: GA 400 tolls to be removed in 2013 (Atlanta: construction, upkeep)

[neil0311]

Gov. Deal: GA 400 tolls to be removed in 2013 - CBS Atlanta 46

"ATLANTA (CBS ATLANTA) - Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal has announced that there's an end in sight to the tolls on GA 400. During a news conference at the state Capitol on Thursday morning, Gov. Deal said that the tolls would be removed by the end of December 2013."

[toll_booth]

w00t!

[arjay57]

As long as they actually finish the road -- i.e., by completing the interchange at I-85, etc. -- I'm okay with.

In general, however, I favor user fees because they put more of the burden for construction and upkeep on the people who are actually using the road. We charge people a user fee for riding on MARTA, for instance. Why should other people get off scott free?

[gt6974a]

So my tag fees, ad valorum, gas tax, etc don't go to roads?

[cqholt]

So my tag fees, ad valorum, gas tax, etc don't go to roads?

Doesn't cover the cost to maintain and build new roads. Most of GDOT's budget is for maintenance of existing roads.

[Mossberg]

Originally Posted by arjay57

As long as they actually finish the road -- i.e., by completing the interchange at I-85, etc. -- I'm okay with.

In general, however, I favor user fees because they put more of the burden for construction and upkeep on the people who are actually using the road. We charge people a user fee for riding on MARTA, for instance. Why should other people get off scott free?

The money to complete the I-85 interchange was already there in the general fund of SRTA before they decided to extend the tolls. That is one reason why folks were a bit upset at the toll extension. The additional revenue was not needed.

[researchnerd]

That article makes it sound like it's a done deal. But at the bottom...

"Gov. Deal's proposal will need to be approved by the State Road and Tollway Authority."

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by researchnerd

That article makes it sound like it's a done deal. But at the bottom...

"Gov. Deal's proposal will need to be approved by the State Road and Tollway Authority."

I don't know the details, but I think they are pretty much under the control of the Gov who is their Chairman. Didn't he decide to lower the peach pass tolls on I-85, and it was done within days?

This press release was on their SRTA site: http://www.georgiatolls.com/assets/d...ase_071912.pdf

[bryantm3]

i think they need to *add* tolls to i-85 and i-75 if the t-splost doesn't pass. we've got to fund roads and transit in metro atlanta, money doesn't come out of thin air.

[ATLTJL]

I'll believe it when I see it.

If you think roads should have tolls, that's fine, but then you need to allow that decision to be made. The toll on GA 400 was allowed because at the time it was promised that it would be removed when the road was paid for.

If you want to institute a new toll, that's fine, but you have to exercise the original term of the agreement, which is removing it, before you can institute a new one. You can't just go back on a promise because you changed your mind.