Starting Oct. 1, solo drivers can take to the I-85 HOV lane in parts of Gwinnett and DeKalb County, for a price.
From Old Peachtree Road to just south of the Perimeter, the HOV lane on I-85 is turning into a toll lane. The electronic toll system is to go live at midnight the night of Friday, Sept. 30 and Saturday, Oct. 1, according to State Road and Tollway Authority director Gena Evans, as long as weather permits final installation steps and testing goes well.
The fee for using the lane will rise and fall with congestion in the main lines, aiming to always stay high enough to keep the toll lanes free-flowing. The project is not expected to be self-supporting, but that's not the point. The goal of the project is to offer drivers a choice that exists nowhere in metro Atlanta: the option to step out of rush hour traffic jams into a reliably flowing lane, for a price.
The road project's budget is about $60 million, and $12.5 million of that came from a $110 million grant under the Bush Administration, according to state officials. The rest of the $110 million grant is going to a massive expansion of the Xpress commuter bus system, according to the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority.
"We're really excited," said Evans at a meeting with Gov. Nathan Deal Thursday about toll projects.
Evans said the authority was issuing about 1,000 Peach Passes a day -- the electronic toll tags to be stuck in drivers' windshields. Two-person carpools also have to pay, but three-person carpools can still drive free. All must register for Peach Passes.
However, another toll project took an unexpected stumble Thursday. Gov. Nathan Deal raised concerns about state's maiden toll road project using private investment just as it was about to go out to bid. The state Department of Transportation has postponed the bidding at least until Monday.
That project would build new optional toll lanes alongside I-75 and I-575 in Cobb and Cherokee counties.
After years of false starts, the I-75/I-575 project appeared headed for bidding Thursday or Friday. Key elements of it sailed through approvals Thursday at DOT, where board members called it "historic," and at the State Road and Tollway Authority board, which Deal heads as chairman. The impasse came later at a state finance commission meeting, also chaired by Deal.
Deal's concerns about the I-75/I-575 project centered on a clause in the proposed project contract, which would protect the private investors by restricting what other road projects the government could build in the area of the toll road. The project would cost about $1 billion, and private investors would finance and build it, to be paid back by tolls and up to $300 million in tax dollars.
Investors typically demand such clauses, called "noncompete clauses," so that customer demand for the toll lane doesn't plummet as a result of an unexpected road project nearby that eases congestion.
The state would be bound by the contract for 50 years, with a possible 10-year extension.
The deputy executive director of the tollway authority, Chris Tomlinson, told Deal that the proposed contract would allow the state to build any project in the toll road's area that was already listed in the department's long-range plan, supposed to include 20 years of planning. The list of protected projects is actually more than 20 years' worth, state officials said, because the long-range plan is a wish list that is not limited by how much money is available.
After questioning staff about its terms, Deal asked the commission members, including Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens, "Anybody besides me have some concerns about that?" They voted to wait until another meeting Monday, hoping House Speaker David Ralston and Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle could attend.
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