State lifts ban on tolling regular lanes

By Ariel Hart

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The state Department of Transportation has lifted a ban on projects that place tolls on existing regular traffic lanes.  The DOT board lifted the ban as it approved a Managed Lane System Plan, a proposed network of optional toll lanes that would span the far-flung Atlanta metro area.

The board put the ban in place in 2005 following public outrage over a proposal to rebuild Ga. 316, and pay for it by tolling all the lanes.  That proposal was shelved.

Lifting the ban paves the way for projects that could charge drivers to use some regular traffic lanes they now use for free on highways such as the Downtown Connector, as part of a larger regional network of optional toll lanes.  Some other lanes on the road could still be left free.

DOT’s first toll projects wouldn’t affect existing regular lanes.  They either put a toll on an existing HOV lane, as with I-85 in Gwinnett County, or would build new optional toll lanes, as with I-75 in Cobb County.  DOT officials stressed this week that putting a toll on a regular traffic lane in addition to such measures would be done only in rare cases.

“It would be an issue of last resort and something we probably won’t be touching for a couple years,” said Todd Long, the state Department of Transportation’s planning director, who reports to Gov. Sonny Perdue.

The resolution’s wording is vague. Nothing in it defines what portion of a road must be left free, and nothing in it would prevent future leaders from changing their plans and deciding to charge toll on all lanes of a road.  But Long dismissed that notion.  “There’s no one recommending that we toll every lane of a road,” Long said.

Long said the real issue was that the board was approving a workable plan to alleviate Atlanta’s crushing congestion.

For anyone who thinks the state should simply keep expanding and building regular roads in Atlanta to solve congestion, “there’s not enough money in the world,” Long said.

As the plan was presented this fall, the highways that could call for tolling an existing regular lane included the Downtown Connector and part of I-20 inside the Perimeter.

The tolls would all be electronic, with no stopping for toll booths.  Drivers who wanted to ride in the lanes would have to sign up for toll accounts and place electronic sensors in their windows.

The DOT board's chairman, Bill Kuhlke, said the board had no other choice but to lift the ban.  "We had to," he said.  To do the projects DOT needs to do, "it's going to cost us a bunch of money."

Buying land for additional highway lanes and rebuilding bridges to accommodate wider roads can be prohibitively expensive, especially within the Perimeter.

Kuhlke conceded that he was concerned about public opinion on the matter.  But, he said, "I think an awful lot of things have changed in the last five years.  Atlanta's growing, congestion's getting worse. We've got to do something."