Posted on 09/13/2021 9:00:08 AM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
State officials plan to allow a private company to set toll rates and keep the revenue from the proposed I-285 express lanes — a move that will affect hundreds of thousands of metro Atlanta commuters.
The firm would invest in the design, construction and maintenance of the new lanes, currently set for construction beginning in 2023, then recover its investment by collecting toll revenue for 50 years. Many details — including which company will operate the lanes, how much it will invest and any limits on its tolling authority — have not been determined.
Georgia transportation officials say private investment will allow the state to add more toll lanes than the state alone can afford to build along the top half of the Perimeter. It also could mean more entry points to the lanes than currently planned, allowing more people to easily use them.
“At the end of the day, we’ll be getting more project, more value for less public dollars,” Georgia Department of Transportation Chief Engineer Meg Pirkle told the State Transportation Board on Wednesday.
Giving a private company control of tolling also carries risks for all involved. Commuters could face higher tolls than the state would charge because a private firm must charge enough to turn a profit. And some companies that invested in U.S. toll roads in recent years have filed for bankruptcy because tolls didn’t produce as much revenue as projected.
“GDOT has articulated the positives, but not the risks,” said board member Kevin Abel, whose district includes part of the project. “I’d like to see a clear statement of risks.”
The plan comes as GDOT continues to build a 120-mile network of toll lanes in metro Atlanta.
(Excerpt) Read more at ajc.com ...
The outer perimeter was all designed in the 90s and conceptually ready to go. Was going to be GA 500 . I purchased a house in prime position to be exactly halfway between each loop, but it never happened.
Years ago, an outer beltway was proposed with a promise of only 4 exits so it wouldn’t get congested like 285. Those exits were Lawrenceville, Cumming, Canton and Cartersville.
A few years later, and it was promised only 7 exits. A few years later it would be no more than 13 exits.
Point being, developers started looking at development and were buying the politicians.
Resistance was fierce and eventually the idea was dropped.
If one is built, it will be just as congested over time as the current 285, without solving the problem it was built to solve.
Yup. I haven’t seen any private tollway deal that didn’t stink of corruption.
Begs the question.....For what? I wonder what his justification was for the tax increase. But, then again, the Republican’s in Penn, just like the ones in Georgia, love that cash stream. If they cared, they’d be raising hell about it. Even Dem voters would love to see a decrease in something like that. Even if they didn’t get rid of it all together.
But, they’re all greedy POSs. No matter what letter they use to describe themselves.
One only needs to look at parking meter and parking garage rates in Shitcago to see how this is going to go ...
Ike actually wanted tolls on the system, but Congress insisted on funding it with a gas tax, so that’s what Ike ultimately signed from his hospital bed in 1956.
Gov. Tom Corbett signed the bill ending the cap on oil tax receipts in 2013, thus causing the 30 cents or so rise in your gas prices.
Please disregard my previous reply.
They were raising the money for more highway projects, but over time, more and more of that increase has gone to the state police.
Thanks for the correction.
The Fairfax County Parkway was supposed to be a limited access highway, but what happened instead was a “hillbilly highway” with a bunch of at-grade intersections.
Its Georgia. Everything is taxed. Literally everything. 😣
Major items exempt from the tax include food (not ready-to-eat); candy and gum; most clothing; textbooks; computer services; pharmaceutical drugs; sales for resale; and residential heating fuels such as oil, electricity, gas, coal and firewood. The Pennsylvania sales tax rate is 6 percent.
Pennsylvania does not tax its residents’ retirement income. It is one of only two states, and the only state on the East Coast, that considers pension income completely tax exempt. The Keystone State also has the lowest flat tax rate in the country at just 3.07 percent.
If they add more lanes, like the did on I-75 North in Cobb Co., then I don’t see a real downside. You keep all the existing lanes and add the toll lanes. In Gwinnett County they converted the HOV lanes on I-85 to toll lanes, stealing existing lanes and forcing more drivers into fewer lanes which was a mess.
In Georgia you don’t just go down and pay $50 per year for your license tag. They call it an ad valorum tax and the license plate costs a percentage of the value of your vehicle. I have a 2006 Honda CRV and last year they still charged me close to $100. Its the most hated tax in the state.
That’s outrageous. We don’t have that here. Only when you sell a vehicle do you get charged a tax on the sale, and title.
Tagline fix.
Well, that’s even a better argument for getting rid of it. Everyone has skin in the game to help fund GSP. so why not a 2-3cent sales tax, across the board?
I thought you were talking about the Pennsylvania tax, increasing amounts of which are being used to fund the state police up there.
No. But I think the same rules apply.
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