Gwinnett County received one proposal from a contractor interested in building a toll-road extension of Ronald Reagan Parkway.

The proposal is from Skanska, the international construction company seeking to make inroads in public-private transportation projects in the United States.

Details of the proposal, received just before the Monday afternoon deadline, are not public, purchasing supervisor Debra Parmer said.

Brian Allen, the county's transportation director, said his staff is only beginning to review the "voluminous" document.

"We obviously don't have a clue whether we have a good proposal or not," he said.

The county is seeking a partner to extend the four-lane road from its current end at Pleasant Hill Road to I-85.

County officials say the 3-mile extension would help relieve traffic throughout the area, not just for Ronald Reagan drivers. Other roads that might see congestion relief from the project include Steve Reynolds Boulevard, Beaver Ruin Road and Lawrenceville Highway, according to county officials.

The county's proposal calls for the contractor to take on the full expense of buying land for the route and building the road in exchange for being allowed to charge tolls to recoup its expenses and profit. So far, there's no public estimate of cost or what the toll would cost.

The county does not have to accept the proposal. But if approved by the County Commission, likely in October or November, the project would be the county's first public-private partnership. Governments are increasingly drawn to such tactics as transportation projects become more expensive and transportation funding more difficult to get.

Similar proposals by the state Department of Transportation to use public-private partnerships have stalled. One early proposal, a plan to transform Ga. 316 between Lawrenceville and Athens into a restricted access toll-road, was suspended after public outcry. State officials are still debating the concept of privately-built toll roads.