Georgia's largest road construction project is almost done, GDOT says (tolled express lanes)

WSB TV 2 ^ | February 13, 2018 | Steve Gehlbach

[BobL]

” Those fees go back to maintenance, reducing taxes for the whole road.”

Any proof of that, or is that just a theory of yours? Certainly not true for those paying ‘fees’ on the PA Turnpike and many, many, other ‘facilities’ (as they call them) around the nation.

[Georgia Girl 2]

And that my friends is why the state bird of Georgia is the Industrial Crane. :-)

[hinckley buzzard]

there was a time when Conservatives understood and supported the concept of the user fee. Lately we have an influx of entitled millenial wannabes who expect everything for free while still trying to pass themselves off as conservatives.

[FreedomPoster]

Great point.

I will say that it’s partially a result of people feeling overtaxed for other redistributionist efforts, so they resist taxes/fees that are justified. Which doesn’t mean you’re not 100% correct, it’s just an explanation of part of the reason why we’re here.

[FreedomPoster]

GA FReeper ping.

BTW, if you’re not familiar with GDOT’s MMIP, Major Mobility Investment Program, you probably should be. It will affect your life for the next 10-20 years and beyond.

Here’s a link to a recent GDOT PowerPoint deck on the subject:
http://jkheneghan.com/city/meetings/2017/Oct/10092017_GDOT_ManagedLanes_285.pdf

Many of the projects include additional tolled lanes such as the ones that are the subject of this story.

[from occupied ga]

You mean Natalie Dale? She used to be a Falcons cheerleader

[from occupied ga]

How do you propose to build new lanes without revenue?

Georgia collected $20.814 billion in tax revenue in 2016 - Not like the government is lacking revenue The below is form the GA general budget summary:

Georgia’s Constitution requires spending revenue from the state’s tax on motor fuel only on public roads and bridges. The money is dedicated to a mix of new construction, maintenance on existing infrastructure and debt service on past investments. Lawmakers passed legislation in 2015 that significantly changed the way Georgia taxes motor fuel, raising the gas tax to 26 cents per gallon of gasoline and 29 cents per gallon of diesel fuel for an increase of 7 to 8 cents per gallon. The 2015 reforms also indexed the new rates to inflation and rising fuel efficiency, so that motor fuel collections can keep pace with changing consumer habits and economic trends. The higher tax results in an anticipated $1.66 billion in Motor Fuel Funds for the state’s budget for the 2017 fiscal year, a $657 million increase over the original 2016 budget. Also, all gas tax revenue now goes to the Department of Transportation, whereas some of it went to the state’s general fund under the prior system

Now come on tell us all again how Georgia needs toll revenue

[Blueflag]

thanks for the post.

regarding Ga 400, what is the plan for McFarland once they double flow to it?

we leave WAY up 400 north of exit 17 on the lake.

[FreedomPoster]

Go look at the price tag on those MMIP projects, and then look at all the other maintenance and construction projects GDOT does.

[FreedomPoster]

Great question, and it is part of why folks need to be aware of what is going on. Attend GDOT open houses, comment on their plans, let your state reps, the governor, etc., know your comments.

[Thibodeaux]

ride their ass and flash your lights

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

I’ve done that. It doesn’t affect those knuckleheads one bit.

[from occupied ga]

Now you're changing the subject. You implied that the DOT needed money - it HAS money - and lots of it.

Go look at the price tag on those MMIP projects, and then look at all the other maintenance and construction projects GDOT does

A big fat "so what?" The world won't end if the "MMIP projects" are delayed. They're just part of a plan developed by the DOT, not some action mandated by God. Just maybe the DOT ought to PRIORITIZE to fit the budget rather than just grabbing more and more money. As I drive around Atlanta, I see simple things like adding a lane for about 1/4 of a mile to the turn from PIB to westbound 285 that has been going on since midsummer and is still moving at a snail's pace, but doubtless sucking taxpayer dollars at full throttle.

Dunno about you, but I have to live within a budget. Perhaps (novel idea) a government agency could attempt to do the same and only spend WHAT THEY CAN AFFORD WITH THE CURRENT LEVEL OF FUNDING. I'm surprised that so many conservatives seem to think that the answer to government "needs" (which are mostly wants rather than needs) is to give more money to the government. Every cent spend by the DOT is a cent that some taxpayer in GA doesn't get to spend on his own needs and wants.

[FreedomPoster]

One of the things many GA taxpayers want is to get from here to there faster than is currently possible.

[from occupied ga]

One of the things many GA taxpayers want is to get from here to there faster than is currently possible.

With the exception getting to the grave don't we all, but if you look at the number of people in the variable cost toll lanes vs. the other lanes, you'll notice that most of us don't want to completely open our wallets to do it.

[FreedomPoster]

And that’s OK too.

But those in the toll lanes open things up, at least a little, for those who don’t care to pay the toll.

Beyond that, I think we need to agree to disagree. I’ll push this a little by referring you to hinckley buzzard’s post #23.

[spintreebob]

“roads.” Anyone in gubbermunt remember those?

The achilles heel of government central planning is that central planners impress each other with the biggest shiny object. Atlanta could almost double its capacity with just a few, cheap, small changes.

TRAFFIC LIGHTS: Cooper, a dead end street with 2 houses has a traffic light at Fulton. Busy Fulton St traffic has to wait 60 of every 120 seconds for that light. I have yet to see a single car on Cooper.

Heavy traffic Briarcliff traffic waits 60 out of 240 seconds for The-By-Way and 60 out of 240 seconds for Stillwood, 100 ft South of The-By-Way and those lights are not sequenced with each other. Just 1 out of 10 times a car uses The-By-Way green light and 1 out of 5 times a car uses the Stillwood green light.

Recently a few lights have been turned to blinking orange on the heavy traffic street and blinking red on the street with almost no traffic. Unfortunately, Georgia drivers have no clue what blinking red or orange lights mean.

Throughout the entire Atlanta metro area, the placement and timing of traffic lights makes no sense at all. Intelligent use of traffic lights could increase traffic flow by 20%. Cheap and easy to do.

SIGNAGE: A highway or expressway will come to a fork in the road. The signs to take the right fork are on the left side of the road and vice versa. At the last minute, people in the far left lane will suddenly realize that they are in the wrong lane and will cut across 2 or 5 middle lanes to get to the lane they really want.

The busiest surface road near my house has 4 names in 1/2 mile. Almost every street that goes for more than 1/2 mile changes its name in the middle. Moreland-Briarcliff, Boulevard-Monroe, Pryor-Park, Aaron-Capitol-Capital-Piedmont, Juniper-Courtland-Washington, DeKalb-Decatur-Marietta.

The GPS is typically 30+ seconds behind the change in name of a street. A moving car encounters a street changing its name twice in 60 seconds, which means the GPS is always wrong. You can see numerous drivers looking at their GPS and not watching where they are driving .... or stopping in the middle of the street trying to figure out where they are because the GPS does not match the street signs.

Atlanta metro has many of us immigrants from the Rust Belt. It takes us extra long to figure out where we are and how to get from point A to point B. We clog traffic. But it isn’t just us. Plenty of Georgians haven’t memorized all the street name changes.

Before the top officers of Amazon or some other firm come to town to decide whether to locate here, the assistants come. They rent cars and try to drive around town to get from their hotel to their various meetings. They encounter the ignorant mess that is Atlanta traffic...ignornant mess that is obviously cheap to improve, yet not improved. It must make a negative impression on them.

More observations. Atlanta is clearly going to grow East-West at Mid-town and Downtown. Clearly Freedom Parkway must go under Boulevard so the traffic on neither is stopped. Freedom Parkway could easily go Beyond Moreland to enter Clifton North of Ponce and to enter Ponce East of Clifton. This would greatly relieve the East side, which seems to be adding a thousand apartments per month.

Apartments added to Memorial seem to be 300 per month. Memorial could be cheaply widened to 5 lanes, 4 driving lanes plus a center turn lane. But the longer this is delayed, the more expensive and disruptive it will become.

Clearly the Westside will expand. Clearly a connector needs to be built as a bi-level expressway along the West side of Benz. It would extend on the south to I20 and a Southbound exit beyond I20 and the possibility of future extension farther South beyond I20.

Of course, this Westside Connector would have ramps directly into Benz and Gulch parking lots.

To the North of Benz it would be bi-level and follow the Railroad tracks West of Marietta and Howell Mill north to I75. A branch would follow the Railroad Tracks north of 17th and then up to I85 to relieve the I85 traffic before the I85-I75 merge. If Cobb county can afford their new skybridge, then this Atlanta connector can be afforded.

Southbound at the merge of I75 HOV and I85 HOV there is a grassy median that leads to 17th Street. An exit should be built from both HOV lanes to a new bridge parallel to and North of 17th Street Bridge. That new bridge should then lead over 17th Street to Spring St and also double back to Northbound Peachtree.

All of the above demonstrates something else that is true nationwide.

Hang MISSION ACCOMPLISHED on Ike’s interstate system. What is now needed is maintenance and short connectors. That is best done by state and local government, not by government Central Planners in the Beltway in a new SHOVEL READY program that is given some new name.

Abolish the Federal Department of Transportation.
Abolish all Federal Energy, Utility and transportation taxes. Tell each tax collector (typically the energy company) to send the Federal tax directly to the state in which collected for a 5 year transition period.

The states have 5 years to replace (or not) the federal taxes with state taxes.

Bold plans are not to do more of the same central planning. Bold plans are to decentralize central planning.

[from occupied ga]

You and hinkley both missed the point. Motor fuel taxes ARE pay for use fees. Adding toll on top of it takes your fuel tax money to build the structure and then denies you the use of what your tax money paid for unless you pay additional fees. If the total cost of the extra lanes was totally bought and paid for by toll dollars there would be some justification, but the infrastructure is built with tax money.

Do you remember the promises made by the politicians and GDOT about the toll on 400? "As soon as it's is paid off we'll stop collecting tolls" Another government lie of course, they collected tolls long after it was paid off and only ever more strident complaints by taxpayers forced them to keep their promise to end the tolls (years after they originally broke it)

[FreedomPoster]

Agreed on the GA 400 tolls, and kudos for Nathan Deal for ending it.

He got the message from the voters loud and clear with the failure of the 2012 T-SPLOST, as those tollbooths were a major issue causing the failure, along with way too much money allocated to MARTA heavy rail.