Looks like the proposed I-85 High-Occupancy Toll (HOT) Lane project just got hit with cold water.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Georgia DOT board has raised some concerns regarding the proposal to toll I-85's current High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes from I-285 (Exit 95) in DeKalb County to Old Peachtree Road (Exit 109) in Gwinnett County. Those concerns include the following...

- Compatibility (or lack thereof) with the existing Georgia Cruise Card that is used on the GA 400 tollway.

- No effective barrier between the HOT lanes and the regular travel lanes.

- HOT drivers having to cross all traffic lanes to the exits. Currently, the only HOV exit along the HOT stretch exists at GA 316/University Parkway (Exit 106).

If the tolls are dropped on GA 400 next summer (which I hope becomes a reality), then the only compatibility issue I can see will be regarding interoperability with other states' electronic tolling systems such as Florida's Sunpass, the EZPass multistate tolling system, and the tolling system that North Carolina will be implementing on it's very first toll road, the Triangle Expressway in the Raleigh/Durham area. Perhaps GDOT and the State Road and Tollway Authority (SRTA) should look at the interoperability option as part of its requirements for Georgia's future electronic tolling system (which may be named "PeachPass").

Speaking of tolling, the toll plaza as we know it seems to be an "endangered species" of sorts. With the advent of electronic tolling (a.k.a. "open-road tolling"), the Triangle Expressway will be the first such toll road in the United States. Tolls will be collected either by detecting compatible toll transponders or by taking a photo of the vehicle's license plate and sending a bill to the registered owner. Those billed under the photo option will incur a higher rate than transponder holders. In Florida, the Homestead Extension of Florida's Turnpike (HEFT) is currently being converted to open-road tolling, and in Canada, Ontario Highway 407 in Toronto was the world's very first open-road tollway.

As for the current GA 400 tolls, I have created a Facebook group "DROP THE TOLL ON GA 400!!!" and invite you to join it so that you can let your voice be heard. Hey, if the people of Vermont can save a moose, then we here in Georgia can let our elected officials know that we want no more tolls on GA 400 once the construction bonds are paid off.

That's it for now. Thanks for reading, thanks for joining the Facebook group, and please come back often.

SOURCE: "Strife Over I-85 Toll Project ", Atlanta Journal-Constitution, May 20, 2010.

 

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