Posted on 05/16/2018 3:50:41 PM PDT by Dacula
Gwinnett County is committing $5 million to help find ways to relieve traffic congestion on Interstate 85.
County commissioners approved a memorandum of understanding with the Georgia Department of Transportation to conduct an I-85 Corridor Study Tuesday. The money that will be spent on work related to the study and will be spread across four years; state transportation officials have agreed to match the county’s contribution.
That means Georgia and Gwinnett County officials will spend a total of $10 million over nearly half of the next decade studying and beginning to do some work on I-85.
“We’re looking at potential capacity improvements as well as safety improvements really all the way from 285 to north of State Route 316,” Gwinnett County Transportation Director Alan Chapman said.
A corridor study on I-85 has been floated around in recent years, particularly as county officials undertook a major update to Gwinnett’s Comprehensive Transportation Plan. County officials plan to use money from the 2017 SPLOST to cover their portion of the study’s funding.
The four-year window and funding includes time to work on the study — which itself could take a couple of years to complete — and begin engineering work on traffic relief projects on the interstate.
Chapman said it is possible that study area will likely go all the way up to the Buford area. There will be a smaller focus area though to address heavily congestion on the interstate.
“We think we’ll study it all the way up to 985, but the real choke point is from just north of Pleasant Hill Road down to 285,” Chapman said.
None of the county funds are expected to be spent on the portion of the study area located between I-285 and the Gwinnett-DeKalb County line though.
County officials approached GDOT with the proposal to work together on the corridor study. The state is already working on extending its Express Lane tolls with new lanes being built between Old Peachtree Road and Hamilton Mill Road on I-85.
Working with state transportation officials on the study will have its benefits for the county as well, particularly a potential synergy with other major transportation projects taking place in the region.
The state has been working on its “Revive 285” project, which will include 12 miles of new elevated Express Lanes on both sides of I-285 between I-85 and Interstate 75. GDOT Commissioner Russell McMurry also told the Gwinnett Chamber earlier this year that the state is looking at eventually redoing Spaghetti Junction to relieve congestion.
“With the improvements GDOT has proposed for 285, we do think it’s important to coordinate this work with Revive 285,” Chapman said.
WTF
They are still working on 85 to make sure the toll road work is functional, while neglecting the ponding on the road when it rains.
Get this, next year when they ‘finish’ this long project, then they will then add an exit ramp at Gravel Springs.
They have no plan on how to handle the additional traffic on Gravel Springs and 124.
Must be Tech and UGA grads with a lot of clout.
Recommendations:
Remove illegals from the road.
Limit the number of cars on I-85.
Teach people how to merge.
Get the idiots off their cell phones and focus on driving.
I'll take $1,000,000 in compensation.
It is all about revenue.
Our Georgia\Gwinnett government do not care about the taxpayers, It is all about the money.
We keep paying and they ticket the stupid.
Get rid of the stupid Global Warming lane that failed, and is now the 1% lane that no one pays to ride in.
Then deport everyone in Gwinnett that is illegally in the country.
Finally, make it legal for police officers to execute people in the median for failing to use their turn signal.
and the slowpokes in the left lane ...
What they need is an outer loop. Dallas has 4 loop roads - two expressways alternating with two 6 lane surface streets. And initial planning is underway for a 5th.
Meanwhile, Atlanta has one expressway loop on a route that is about a half century old. And build the Morningside Connector - tunnel if necessary - between 675 and 400. Plans for it are also about a half century old.
HA! Gwinnett County Commissioners are some of the most corrupt/stupid individuals you will ever meet. We just went through a huge fight with our commissioner and the Gwinnett EDP over a jackleg builder who is putting up 7 houses in the front of our subdivision. Unbelievable!
I ride in the I-85 Express lanes and pay for the privilege. With variable tolls, sometimes I pay a lot and sometimes very little. What I get back is time... and reduced frustration.
Don’t knock it ‘till you try it. Peachpass is your friend!
I won’t pay the government extra for something we already paid for.
Global Warming Lane? What the heck is that?
An HOV lane. Basically, after the tax payers pay to have a road built the state takes one lane away from them and claims that is only for people that are carpooling. If you drive alone in that lane they ticket you for $450 bucks.
So, the lane went largely unused because people don’t carpool to save the freakin ERF when they simply have to get to work on time. Because no one was using their retarded Global Warming Lane, the uppity tax payers started to get wise, so quick they changed it. So maybe they call it the Climate Change lane now or whatever but now they charge the tax payers for the “privilege” of using it, even though they paid for it long ago.
Figured it must be something like a HOV or fast lane.
Trouble is you get in that "single lane" and get stuck behind some jackass going 5 miles under the speed limit and you can't get to another lane.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.