Alpharetta City Council Rejects Mention of HOT Lanes

Alpharetta City Council member are so against converting any GA 400 lanes into HOT lanes that they don't even want a mention of them in a plan for land use for the GA 9 corridor from Mayfield Road north.

The City Council is scheduled to consider the State Route 9/Georgia 400 Livable Centers Initiative again on Monday, June 4, at after tabling any decision during their May 29 meeting.

The Livable Communities Initiative with the city of Milton is a 20-year vision for Milton and Alpharetta, according to Eric Bosman of Urban Collage, the cities' consultant on the plan. It serves as an amendment to Alpharetta and Milton's land use plans.

Within the LCI plan is a mere mention that if the Georgia Department of Transportation creates HOT lanes on GA 400, the plan will have to be adjusted. It does not support or request the toll lanes.

Managed lanes are toll lanes with varying rates designed to provide a faster route on a highway in exchange for paying higher tolls as traffic on the adjacent non-toll lanes gets heavier.

Bosman said the plan acknowledges the process is ongoing for HOT lanes and even an additional MARTA transit station that could result in additional connections with GA 400. The cities should adjust their policies in the LCI if that happens, he said.

Councilman D.C. Aiken said he's made it clear that Alpharetta will never accept managed toll lanes on GA 400 unless additional lanes are built.

"This plan in no way says that managed lanes are going to happen. It doesn't advocate for it," Bosman said. All it does is acknowledge that the state is looking at the possibility, and the cities would need to adjust policies to take it into account.

'This is not the first time this has come before us, most recently a year ago," Aiken said. "It just keeps coming back."

Councll members asked if they could make changes to the LCI plan to make it clear it does not endorse or support HOT lanes in any way. But Bosman said that wouldn't be advisable as it's a joint plan with Milton, and its City Council already has adopted it. He suggested adding that statement to the resolution endorsing the LCI plan, or adding an attachment to it instead.

"It seems a little dangerous to have two separate versions" of the plan, he said.