Poorly executed: They were supposed to be HOT lanes, not toll lanes! By outsourcing to a private company, we have to now register to use them even as HOV lanes? That's ridiculous
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Originally Posted by GTdan
You guys do know that the I-75 toll lanes will not be like the HOT lanes on I-85 right? They will be reversible lanes that have various connections on I-75 and I-575 which will definitely improve traffic congestion and have a HUGE positive impact... at least for the people willing to pay the toll.
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Why can't HOT lanes be reversible? I think when the state is funding so much of the bill, it has the right to tell the private corporation that it needs to allow HOV as well on the same lanes. I think it's ridiculous the state isn't considering it as HOT.
As far as impact, this could have some negative impacts from increased single-family sprawl out past Acworth and in Paulding county, however Cobb County is fully developed so can't sprawl any further. There could be some positive impacts as well because it can lead to a more developed town center, which will make the Cumberland-Town Center corridor potentially more developed. However, I really think toll-only is a bad idea. Furthermore, our money could be better invested on a park-and-ride both in Town Center and Cumberland with light rail in-between. Contrary to popular opinion, most traffic is local and not downtown commuter traffic. That's why the traffic changes substantially at 285.
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Originally Posted by shivtim
^They want to spend $1billion to add highway lanes out to the suburbs. Huge NEGATIVE impact.
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I agree with you that it will mostly benefit wealthy, though I don't agree that more highway lanes aren't needed to the suburbs. If you think about it, most of the I-75 OTP traffic splits off and either stays on, or goes on I-285. Therefore, I-75 OTP will always need more lanes than ITP or I-285.
However, what I think is being shown is insular thinking and lack of comprehensive vision so common to Georgia lawmakers. There should be a LRT component of this project, especially if they are going to be doing some building out there. There should also be general purpose collectors and other things that have been discussed in the top-end 285 project (perhaps not out in Acworth, but definitely between Cumberland and Town Center).
Definitely missing the boat on making it HOT creates questions. What we really need is lawmakers to get out of planning and to leave that up to the people that know what they are doing. They should express their vision and stop micro-managing.