Here’s how Gwinnett may spend $437 million in SPLOST funds
In November, Gwinnett County residents yet again opted into a new SPLOST, the local one-cent sales tax used to pay for transportation, school, parks and other public projects.
About 65 percent of the money projected to be collected over the new six-year SPLOST will be dedicated to transportation — and we now know how that $437 million or so might be spent.
The Citizens Project Selection Committee, a group of Gwinnett residents that met multiple times over several months, finalized last week its recommendations for projects to prioritize. The committee’s “Tier I” recommendations (expected to take up most, if not all, of the transportation-related SPLOST dollars projected for collection) include 104 projects.
Among them are 16 “major road” projects, 20 intersection improvements, 40 pedestrian safety projects, 13 road safety and alignment projects, eight bridge projects and seven school safety projects.
A few of those recommended projects are below. In many of the large projects, county SPLOST money would only represent seed money or a small percentage of the overall cost, with the remainder paid for by the state or other agencies.
- Widening I-85 between the DeKalb County line and Ga. 316
- Widening Ga. 20 from four to six lanes between Buford Highway and Peachtree Industrial Boulevard
- Widening Ga. 124/Scenic Highway from four to six lanes between U.S. 78 and Sugarloaf Parkway
- Extending Sugarloaf Parkway north through Dacula, from Ga. 316 to I-85
- Widening Pleasant Hill Road from four to six lanes between Howell Ferry Road and the Chattahoochee River
- Widening Buford Highway from four to six lanes between Beaver Ruin Road and Old Norcross Road
Potential intersection improvements prioritized by the committee include:
- I-85 at Beaver Ruin Road
- North Bogan Road at Thompson Mill Road
- Peachtree Industrial Boulevard at Suwanee Dam Road
- Ga. 316 at Harbins Road
- U.S. 29 at Jimmy Carter Boulevard
- U.S. 29 at Ronald Reagan Parkway
- U.S. 29 at Sugarloaf Parkway
Find the full list of recommended projects here.
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