New law means new look at DOT wish list

By Ariel Hart

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A new law could mean new life for a range of hot-button projects, such as adding toll lanes beside Ga. 400 above I-285.

Other possibilities, thanks to the law that rewrote state transportation planning, include keeping the tolls on Ga. 400 inside the Perimeter and leasing all or part of that stretch to a private company, building a north-south road tunnel under Atlanta, and constructing a redrawn Northern Arc.

State DOT staff have put those projects and 33 more throughout the state on a draft of a list they are developing for the DOT board’s consideration. The projects on it would be eligible for the state’s program to build public projects with private investment, like road building repaid with toll money.

DOT spokesman David Spear cautioned Thursday that the list is a “very preliminary ‘discussion document,’ ” subject to change, and the department doesn’t have to build anything on it.

He said more studies need to be done to know even what form the projects should take.

“All of those things are still very much in the air until the board has a chance to talk about it and decide what we’re going to solicit,” said Spear.

The law passed this spring to reorganize transportation planning in Georgia requires DOT staff to compile a list of projects that would have the biggest impact on traffic congestion or economic development. DOT could then solicit bids on any of those projects that are too expensive for the budget or haven’t been started after two years.

Few of them are likely to be affordable based on toll revenue alone. DOT may have to combine tolls and tax money, or subsidize an expensive project with toll revenues from a lucrative one. The DOT board is also considering lifting its ban on tolling regular lanes that have already been built, to help fund projects.

Here are some stretches of road DOT is considering for projects with private investment, like possible toll roads or additional toll lanes:

● A redrawn Northern Arc from Cartersville to Gainesville.

● A seven-mile north-south tunnel under Atlanta, part of an 11-mile road from the I-285/I-675 interchange to the I-85/Ga. 400 interchange.

● Ga. 400.

● I-285 top end.

● I-285 eastern wall from I-85 to I-20: managed lanes (these are often additional toll lanes beside regular lanes, where the toll price rises and falls with congestion).

● I-285 western wall from I-75 to I-20: managed lanes.

● Western I-20 from near Hamilton Holmes Station: managed lanes.

● Southern I-75 from Aviation Boulevard: managed lanes.

● Eastern I-20 from Columbia Drive, also possibly inside I-285: managed lanes.

● Northern I-85 from I-285: two managed lanes each way.

There were also transit projects proposed, including:

● High-speed rail.

● Revamping a lease system for the state’s 540 miles of freight rail lines.

● Extending MARTA from North Springs to Windward Parkway.

And private sector involvement in:

● Welcome centers and rest areas.