This entry was posted on 6/18/2008 5:21 PM and is filed under uncategorized.
Could there be a new toll road in Gwinnett County's future?
If Gwinnett's county commission has its way, then yes, there will.
Years ago, there was a proposal to extend Ronald Reagan Parkway (RRP), a county-maintained limited-access highway, from its current northern end at Pleasant Hill Road near Lilburn to I-85. If the extension is built as planned, then it would be a 3-mile (5 km) tollway.
On June 12, 2008, Gwinnett County released the following news via their website...
BOC Wants Proposals For Ronald Reagan Parkway To I-85
(Lawrenceville, Ga., June 12, 2008) - Connecting Ronald Reagan Parkway to I-85 is the subject of a request for proposals issued by the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners. The Board is seeking a public-private partnership to develop the new roadway project that could be financed privately through tolls or user fees.
"We need to relieve the traffic congestion on Pleasant Hill Road, Steve Reynolds Boulevard, Beaver Ruin Road and US 29, but we don't have the funding to do it any time soon," said Gwinnett DOT Director Brian Allen. The County is currently building an extension of Sugarloaf Parkway to State Route 316 near Dacula.
The proposed project would include planning and building new interchanges at Pleasant Hill Road and at I-85 plus about three miles of four-lane roadway. The developer could use a toll-collection system to pay for the new roadway improvements instead of traditional taxpayer funding. Under this proposal, there would be no toll charges for the use of the existing roadway.
Ronald Reagan Parkway is a limited-access, four-lane road divided by a median. The major east-west thoroughfare currently extends from Scenic Highway/SR-124 in Snellville to Pleasant Hill Road northeast of Lilburn.
"We're looking for private businesses capable of designing, building, financing, operating, and maintaining this much-needed road extension," said Gwinnett County Administrator Jock Connell.
The County will hold a pre-proposal conference for potential partners in July with proposals to be due in August. For more information on the process, please call Debra Parmer in Gwinnett County Purchasing at (770) 822-8720.
Since this will affect traffic coming to/from I-85, a state-maintained highway, I, as a Georgia taxpayer and road user, would want the Georgia DOT and SRTA to be significant players in this game.
Preferably, I would rather see the road being built with monies from a bond and for the revenue to be used both for maintenance and bond payoff purposes. Said bond should be for no more than 10 years and once it has been paid off, dismantle the tollbooths and/or electronic tolling systems immediately. In any event, I would not want a private firm in the business of running and maintaining the roads, since a private firm is only accountable to its shareholders (as opposed to the taxpayers).
Furthermore, with a Gwinnett/GDOT/SRTA partnership, the toll road should be able to accept the current Georgia Cruise Card just as most Florida toll roads and bridges (including those maintained by the Orlando and Miami expressway authorities) accept SunPass.
Oh yeah... one more thing... my latest "ROADGEEK-CAM!!!" episode shot on US 64 in Cherokee County, North Carolina...
That's it for now. Thanks for reading and watching, and please come back again.
6/26/2008 10:16 AMBlackAcura wrote:
"...once it has been paid off, dismantle the tollbooths and/or electronic tolling systems immediately."
No government in the history of the universe has ever given up a revenue source...
A key issue with private toll roads is the contracts generally include non-compete clauses. Such a clause would prevent Gwinnett from widening or easing congestion on parallel routes, such as Indian Trail, Pleasant Hill, etc. Reply to this
7/9/2008 7:58 PM
Jeff wrote: No government in the history of the universe has ever given up a revenue source...
Well, so much for "user fees..." I realize that makes thinking easier, but no--at least not where the people are actually paying attention...
Anyway: Many of the tollways the state of Kentucky built in the '50s and '60s are now free, including the stretch of I-65 south of Louisville and (IIRC) the Western Kentucky Parkway. I-95 between Richmond and Petersburg, VA is formerly a toll road, too. Reply to this
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