Atlanta commuters hoping for a faster ride eventually may get their wish — but at a price.
New toll lanes would run above or alongside all the major highways of metro Atlanta, if state officials adopt a proposal by the state Department of Transportation’s staff.
But there are still plenty of questions to answer.
Among the potentially controversial parts of the plan: On the Downtown Connector and part of I-20 inside the Perimeter, the state would take an existing regular lane of traffic — in addition to any HOV lanes they would toll — and put a toll on it, because it’s too expensive to build more lanes in those places.
Why do this? It offers the biggest bang for the buck in reducing congestion, DOT Planning Director Todd Long said. According to DOT, the system will move enough cars in the toll lanes to reduce traffic congestion in the main lanes as well.
The price
A whopping $16.2 billion for the whole system over 20 years. If private investors ponied up funding to be repaid through tolls, state officials think they would still be left with a $7 billion shortfall the state would have to pay. That’s out of a total $20 billion to $30 billion overall available for state transportation projects. Long emphasized the state could choose to do only parts of the system. He said it also relied partly on the hope for new transportation funding in the region.
The vehicles
Any car, bus or six-wheel truck could choose the toll lanes over the main lanes, for a price. Car pools of three people or more would ride free. The toll price would rise with congestion. The system is to keep enough people who can’t afford the ride out of the lane to provide a rare thing in Atlanta: one place on the highways with guaranteed mobility.
The toll lanes
● Two lanes each way, either newly built or putting tolls on existing HOV lanes: Downtown Connector, I-285, I-75 south of the Perimeter, I-20 west of the Perimeter, Ga. 400 and I-85 north of the Perimeter.
● One lane each way: all interstates and Ga. 400 inside the Perimeter except for the Downtown Connector; and outside the Perimeter, the tail end of some of the two-lane projects would go to one lane.
● Two reversible lanes, elevated beside the main highway: I-20 east of the Perimeter, I-75 north of the Perimeter.
● One reversible lane, elevated: tail end of I-20 east of I-285.
● One reversible lane: northern I-75, and I-575 to Canton Road.
For real?
Who knows. One stretch, on northern I-85 above the Perimeter, is funded and under way. For the rest, the policymakers will have to agree on specifics. Both the DOT board and Gov. Sonny Perdue, who appointed Long, each approve the state’s final project list. The DOT board has approved the general concept of these lanes before and on Thursday told Long to keep working. But a couple of members voiced reservations about the specifics. Long noted that they don’t have to make a decision for a while.
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