GDOT Wants Public Opinion on GA 400 Managed Lanes

The Georgia Department of Transportation is considering ways to improve traffic along the GA 400 corridor, including adding express lanes. Three public meetings have been scheduled by GDOT, but none of them are in Alpharetta, which has the most interchanges on the highway of any city.

"Funny, they kind of skipped over Alpharetta, which has the most exits on GA 400," said Alpharetta Councilman DC Aiken during the March 5 City Council meeting.

Aiken said he has no problems with a toll road if GDOT adds something, but asks how you can add a toll to a road that's already paid for by a toll booth that was supposed to go away that's now funding other things.

"But to bill our citizens for a road that they already paid for? I hope you all go to these meetings," Aiken said to city residents at the meeting.

Pete Sewczwicz, director of Alpharetta's Engineering and Public Works department, said the idea of managed lanes isn't new for the state, which has been talking about it since 2007.

Sewczwicz said managed lanes include options such as tolled express lanes like what has been added to I-85, high occupancy vehicle lanes, carpool lanes and any combination of those options.

What do you think? What are the needs and issues of the corridor? GDOT says it wants to know. Get a head start on the meeting by visiting the GDOT express lane web pages, or check out the GDOT presentation that accompanies this article.

Residents can drop by one of the public information open houses listed below to learn more about the study, discuss issues with staff, and share ideas. All meetings are from 5 to 7 p.m. The public can drop by at anytime.

March 13
5-7 p.m.
The Cottage School
700 Grimes Bridge Road
Roswell, GA 30075

March 15
5-7 p.m.
Piney Grove Elementary School
8135 Majors Road
Cumming, GA 30041

March 20
5-7 p.m.
First Baptist Church Sandy Springs
650 Mount Vernon Highway
Sandy Springs, GA 30328

For more information, visit GDOT's GA 400 Express Lanes web page or email Kristine Hansen-Dederick or call her at 404-377-9147.