The estimated 100,000 drivers who pass through the Cumberland area of Cobb County could gain direct access to the managed lanes of the Northwest Corridor project if a funding shortfall of several million dollars can be closed by the end of August.
The $834 million Northwest Corridor project, consisting of 30 miles of reversible toll lanes along Interstate-75 and Interstate-575, is expected to be completed by 2018.
The Georgia Department of Transportation agreed to build an additional ramp at Akers Mill Road in Cumberland if the Cumberland Community Improvement District could come up with the money to design and build it at an estimated cost of more than $22 million, said CID Chairman Tad Leithead.
“We’re doing fine, but we’re not there yet,” Leithead said.
Earlier this week, the Cobb County Board of Commissioners voted to put $5 million toward the ramp. The money will come from the local match funds portion of a 2016 special 1 percent sales tax, which the county may spend on projects that also have state or federal funding.
But even with the county’s contribution, in addition to state grant money and funds from the Atlanta Regional Commission, the Cumberland CID is still about $7 million short of its goal. Leithead said the CID is pursuing other funding partners and also waiting to hear back on several grant applications.
Cobb Transportation Director Jim Wilgus said without the ramp, drivers coming in and out of Cumberland would have to take a circuitous route.
“That makes it difficult for that huge office area … to be able to access the managed lanes project, so it is an important transportation project,” Wilgus said.
If the CID fails to get the necessary funding to complete the ramp, the county’s contribution would be cancelled, he added.
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