Q: Most of the interstates leading to and from Atlanta have three or more lanes, except Interstate 85 between Highway 20 and the South Carolina border. Can you explain why?
—Joe Surowiec, Stone Mountain
A: Widening I-85 from north of Atlanta to the South Carolina border has long been an identified need, but it has not been accomplished because of a lack of funds.
The Georgia Statewide Freight & Logistics Action Plan, a blueprint the state started to draft six years ago, identifies adding capacity (one lane in each direction) to that section of the interstate.
Widening an 18-mile section of I-85 in Gwinnett and Jackson counties is one of many improvements included in the Transportation Funding Act of 2015, Georgia DOT spokeswoman Karlene Barron told Q&A on the News in an email.
Gov. Nathan Deal announced the improvements in a news conference on Jan. 12
“This announcement included funding for 18 miles of widening I-85 from Hamilton Mill Road in Gwinnett County to U.S. 129 in Jackson County,” she wrote. “These projects are the first step in widening this critical freight corridor all the way to the South Carolina line.”
The freight and logistics plan recommended spending up to $20 billion over the next 40 years in freight improvement projects, advising that the state could generate more than $65 billion in additional economic output and thousands of new jobs.
The plan also called for improvements to the I-85/I-285 interchange, which the American Transportation Research Institute ranked as the worst truck bottleneck in metro Atlanta and the ninth worst in the country.
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