Georgia DOT moves forward with I-285 toll lanes

The Georgia Department of Transportation (DOT) plans to expand a toll lane network in the Atlanta area, launched several years ago on Interstates 75 and 85.

The State Transportation Board voted Thursday to work with the State Road and Tollway Authority (SRTA) to add toll lanes in the upper half of I-285 and along Georgia 400 to the station North Springs MARTA.

As with the Northwest Corridor along I-75 north of 285 and a second section of I-75 just south of Atlanta, the Georgia Department of Transportation will work in partnership with the private sector on the 285 toll lane projects. The DOT will coordinate the work, while a private developer will design, construct, operate and maintain the new lanes, Helen Pinkston-Pope, DOT’s senior attorney, said Thursday.

“We really see the benefits of bringing in the developer from the beginning,” she said.

I-285 is still among the most congested stretches of highway in the country, said Tim Matthews, program manager at the DOT division in charge of projects built through public-private partnerships. Atlanta’s Perimeter Highway sees between 250,000 and 300,000 vehicles a day, he said.

As with previous toll lane projects, SRTA will coordinate financing and collect toll revenue.

Pinkston-Pope said the DOT will first call for bids for the I-285 East Express Lanes project, covering a stretch from Georgia 400 east and south to Interstate 20. Purchasing for the I-285 West Express Lanes – from Georgia 400 west and south to I-20 – will follow, she said.

“The size of these projects is significant,” Matthews said. “We can’t build them with one contract.”

In a related matter, Matthews said the DOT received two bids from contractors interested in adding toll lanes to Georgia 400 in Fulton and Forsyth counties. The agency will evaluate bids and recommend a contractor for that project to the State Transportation Board in August, he said.

This story comes to Rough Draft via a media partnership with Capitol Beat.