In just a few months, a final contract will be signed to build the most expensive road construction project in state history — $840 million optional toll lanes on I-75/I-575 in Cobb and Cherokee counties.
But for a project with so much impact for a corridor that carries some 200,000 vehicles a day, it has captured surprisingly little public attention.
Only 10 public comments about proposed bidders were received on Georgia Department of Transportation’s website last month. Fewer than 50 area residents attended each of two public information sessions in July.
And if recent interviews conducted around both counties are any indication, many who will be affected still don’t know about the massive project that’s been dubbed the Northwest Corridor. When told about the plans, a majority of drivers who spoke to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution this week were skeptical they would use the new lanes.
However, officials believe that once people get used to the idea and fully understand it, they will embrace it as they have the once-controversial HOT Lane on I-85.
Construction on the 30 miles of reversible toll lanes is slated to start late next year and finish by the spring of 2018. Two new reversible lanes will hug the west side of I-75 between I-285 and I-575. A single reversible lane also will be added in the I-75 center median north of the I-575 interchange extending to Hickory Grove Road, and on I-575 from where it branches from I-75 out to Sixes Road. A barrier will separate the lanes from the main road.
via Public skeptical of optional toll lanes on I-75/I-575 | www.myajc.com.
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