Southside Atlanta Toll Lanes Project Contract Awarded (Stockbridge, McDonough: 2013, how much)

[joey86]

Southside Atlanta toll lanes project contract awarded - Atlanta Business Chronicle



The state has awarded a $176.2 million contract for the construction of new toll lanes along Interstate 75 in Atlanta’s southern suburbs, the*Georgia Department of Transportation*announced Monday.

[BobKovacs]

Strange- haven't heard anything about this being a potential upcoming project- everything I've heard has been about the lanes they're planning for 75/575 heading North.

[alco89]

I wonder if the toll lanes will have their own dedicated exits.

[tikigod311]

I didn't have any clue about this until sometime last week.

Link to a video explaining the project
I75 Express Lanes

It looks to be a fairly short stretch. Begins at 75 / 675 and ends at hwy 155. One dedicated toll entry / exit at Jonesboro Rd. I don't go down there too often, but I always thought the majority of traffic snarls at Eagle's Landing Pkwy. With no access, I wonder how much an effect this will have on traffic.

[tonygeorgia]

As long as they are not taking away lanes that are already paid for I dont care

[arjay57]

Terrific! User fees are the way to go!

[Newsboy]

This is actually pretty smart. The reason I-75 in Henry County has such awful traffic jams is because the surface road network in the county is so poor. There are very few -- if any -- east-west surface roads connecting the two sides of I-75, or even one side of McDonough to the other. Or McDonough to Stockbridge, Stockbridge to Hamtpon, etc. The only way for many Henry County residents to reach the hospital on Eagles Landing Parkway is to GET ON THE INTERSTATE!

This wasn't a problem until about 10 years ago when Henry County growth exploded. The county government has done a horrific job of solving the transportation problems in the county. Now the GDOT is at least offering a way for THROUGH traffic passing back and forth on the way to Florida to zip right through. I wonder how many tourists will be willing or knowledgable enough to take advantage of it.

[MattCW]

Oh good grief, MORE IDIOCY from the State! WE DO NOT NEED MORE LANES! $176 million would have been a lot for commuter rail. The $1.4 million cost per mile, is about the same as it would cost to build commuter rail, which would not simply become saturated two weeks later! Heck, I wouldn't mind all that much if they were going to run all day BRT using these new lanes, but they aren't! Score another loss for logic, and rational thought in this state.

[billl]

Originally Posted by Newsboy

I wonder how many tourists will be willing or knowledgable enough to take advantage of it.

How many tourists are going to have a Peach Pass?

[Born 2 Roll]

Folks, you have just witnessed the next step of the Nathan Deal re-election campaign.

Each of the toll lane projects in progress (the I-75 South managed lanes in Henry County, the I-75/I-575 Northwest Corridor in Cobb and Cherokee counties and the I-85 Northeast HOT Lanes extension in Gwinnett County) are in and adjacent to the five most politically-powerful suburban counties in the state (Henry, Cobb, Cherokee, Gwinnett and Hall counties) that decide statewide elections by way of Republican primaries.

Governor Deal won three of the five counties (Henry, Gwinnett and Hall) to win the 2010 Georgia Republican Gubernatorial Primary Runoff by only 2500 votes and is making an attempt to try and win all five of these critically-important suburban counties with these 3 road construction projects in these 3 politically-crucial transportation corridors.

Meaningful progress on these 3 road construction projects in these 3 politically-crucial suburban transportation corridors will likely go a long way in helping Nathan Deal retain his governorship.