Tunnels, tolls answer to gridlock? Group proposes multibillion dollar road project, but not all see it as solution
The Gwinnett Daily Post
11/15/2006
LAWRENCEVILLE — Tunnels and tolls may clear congestion in Atlanta, according to a report set to be released today.
Ideas from two major think tanks include creating a double-decked tunnel to relieve the downtown connector, extending Lakewood Parkway and building a network of toll lanes and a separate toll truckway system through the city.
“Atlanta is going to continue to grow and so are the traffic jams,” said Robert Poole, the author of the study who is director of Transportation Studies at the Reason Foundation. “With limited resources available, we have to spend money where it will most effectively reduce congestion. For the foreseeable future, toll lanes are Atlanta’s best answer.”
A Reason Foundation study released earlier this year found a trip that takes 30 minutes now in Atlanta would take more than 55 minutes by the year 2030.
The proposal, which was also created by the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, got mixed reviews when it was revealed to a small group of movers and shakers Tuesday.
Gwinnett County developer Emory Morsberger said the report misses the mark in terms of changing the fundamental approach to transportation.
“They’re ignoring the most obvious easy solution,” he said. “We need to change the way we’ve handled roads and move toward other alternatives.”
Morsberger is a supporter of the “Brain Train,” a proposed commuter rail line linking Atlanta to Athens, and he said the tunnel concept could distract conversation from building more environmentally friendly transit.
“The concept of doing a big dig under Atlanta is absurd. They don’t have $5 billion to waste on a boondoggle,” he said. “I’m afraid we’re going to get off on a tangent and talk about building a tunnel for five years.”
The $5 billion price tag is solely for the tunnel from the southern terminus of Ga. Highway 400 to Interstate 20. The report estimates building 1,132 lane-miles of toll lanes would cost a total of $9.14 billion.
Brett Harrell, the director of the U.S. Highway 78 Community Improvement District and a member of the governor’s congestion mitigation task force, said he was struck by the voluntary toll ideas.
The report suggests that revenues from the tolls would pay from more than 80 percent of the construction costs, and it would also provide infrastructure for things like bus rapid transit, Harrell said.
“Those four projects would probably have the greatest impact on congestion,” Harrell said.
By Camie Young
Staff Writer
camie.young@gwinnettdailypost.com
