Toll Project Goes to Bid

Gov. Nathan Deal says the state's first public-private toll road project will offer congestion relief to I-75 and I-575 drivers in Northeast Cobb and Cherokee.

Posted Thu, Jul 21, 2011 at 8:17 pm ET|Updated Fri, Jul 22, 2011 at 10:10 am ET

The state has unveiled a project to add one to two reversible toll lanes alongside Interstates 75 and 575, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The project goal is to keep the lanes free-flowing by raising or lowering toll prices based on congestion. The first phase would run through Northeast Cobb along I-575 to Sixes Road in Holly Springs in Cherokee County.

Gov. Nathan Deal and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed announced Tuesday that the federal government has given Georgia access to a subsidized loan of as much as $270 million.

Cobb Board of Commissioners Chairman Tim Lee said the county is eager to help with the project, the Marietta Daily Journal reported.

The state has not announced when the project will go out to bid.

If and when acceptable bids are obtained, it will represent the largest transportation contract in the history of the state with an estimated cost of $1 billion. State taxpayers may have to pay about a third of that.

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