“Just when I thought I was out, you drag me back in.”
— Michael Corleone, The Godfather Part III
This famous quote from the under-appreciated movie, The Godfather Part III, pretty much sums up how I feel about talking about the Interstate 85 HOT-Express Lanes — I thought I was done with the conversation.
But no, here I am devoting another column to the subject.
Last Wednesday my colleague Ariel Hart reported that the Department of Transportation’s Board planned on moving ahead with an extension of the current lane north toward Hamilton Mill Road in northern Gwinnett. Combined with the possibility of more optional toll lane project s on Interstate 75 in Cobb and Henry Counties and Interstate 575 in Cherokee County, the anti-toll lane crowd is fired up again.
I hear the complaints weekly from commuters about how the current HOT lanes on I-85 in Gwinnett have “doubled” their commute times. Hogwash.
The express lanes have been up long enough to gather enough data on their impact, and I can say, with supreme confidence, that the HOT lanes have NOT made the ride worse on I-85. It’s not better, but it’s definitely not worse.
Daily I-85 commuter Scott Plaisted agrees with me.
“Initially it was worse,” Plaisted said. “But as people got used to them and more people started using them, things got better.”
Plaisted, a member of the management team of Southern Refreshment Services, travels on I-985 and I-85 from Spout Springs Road to Jimmy Carter Boulevard every morning. He says his trip is about the same as it was pre-HOT lanes. Plaisted does not use the HOT lanes and has not yet gotten around to getting the necessary Peach Pass to use the lanes.
“There have definitely been several mornings when I wished I could use the lane,” said Plaisted who plans on getting a Peach Passes for him and his wife for Christmas.
I can understand HOT lane criticisms based on cost and tax issues, but the increased traffic excuse is simply not valid.
I look at it this way. Traffic is no worse than it was before the lane was transformed into a high occupancy toll lane. And now commuters have the option, if they absolutely need to be somewhere at a certain time, to pay to use a lane that on most mornings, maintains an average speed of at least 45 miles per hour.
It’s like having a commuting safety valve. I like that. And I’m in favor of expansion and the increased motivation for drivers to start carpooling.
As for the planned expansion to the lane in northern Gwinnett, Plaisted is on board.
“I think it will help. I like the fact that they are adding a new lane and not using an already existing lane.”
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