State committee nixes toll road proposal

A state committee has voted against a proposal to build optional toll lanes along Georgia 400 up to Cumming and Highway-20. The plan would have funded the project privately through a consortium of engineering and road-building companies called Crossroads 400. Committee members say they're not against that arrangement, but say the proposal itself is flawed. The plan did fit with the state's "public-private" law allowing private companies to invest in public toll roads. DOT officials say they intend to start from scratch with new toll road proposals.

DOT to review all projects, toll roads

Georgia’s new Department of Transportation Commissioner Gena Abraham isn’t wasting any time getting her house in order. She’s taking aim at the state’s public-private toll road initiative. With her agency billions of dollars over budget and facing numerous lawsuits, state DOT commissioner says all bets are off for the agency’s pending construction projects as the agency reassesses its priorities. DOT spokesman David Spear says the agency must do a better job evaluating proposals from private groups seeking to invest in toll roads: “We’ve got to have the policy in place to address it in a comprehensive way as well as the personnel to help us do that.” The DOT plans to fully review all public-private toll road proposals, and recruit staff with the expertise needed to make more informed decisions. For now, that means multimillion dollar proposals for toll lanes on I-75, I-575 and others are on hold.