Georgia DOT To Host Public Information Open Houses

From the Cobb County Government:

January 2, 2020

The Georgia Department of Transportation (Georgia DOT) invites you to attend Public Information Open Houses (PIOH) regarding the proposed I-285 Top End Express Lanes in Cobb, Fulton, and DeKalb counties as well as three I-285 Advanced Improvement Projects: I-285 Westbound Auxiliary Lane Extension, the I-285 Westbound Collector-Distributor Lanes, and the I-285/Peachtree Industrial Boulevard Interchange Improvements. All projects are part of the Major Mobility Investment Program (MMIP), which seeks to enhance mobility and safety, fuel economic growth, and improve quality of life. The upcoming PIOHs are scheduled between January 21-30. (schedule with dates and locations below).

Public Information Open Houses:

I-285 Top End Express Lanes & Advanced Improvement Projects

Date
Time
Location
Address

January 21, 2020
11 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Chamblee First United Methodist Church
4147 Chamblee Dunwoody Road
Chamblee, GA 30341

January 23, 2020
12 – 2 p.m.
4:30 – 7:30 p.m.
City Springs
1 Galambos Way
Sandy Springs, GA 30328

January 28, 2020
12 – 2 p.m.
4:30 – 7:30 p.m.
St. Luke’s Presbyterian Church
1978 Mt. Vernon Road
Dunwoody, GA 30338

January 30, 2020
12 – 2 p.m.
4:30 – 7:30 p.m.
The Gallery at Cobb Galleria
1 Galleria Parkway SE
Atlanta, GA 30339

The northern half of I-285 is one of the most heavily traveled and congested interstates in the country. The I-285 Top End Express Lanes project proposes to construct express lanes from just south of Paces Ferry Road in Cobb County to Henderson Road in DeKalb County, plus a section of SR 400 from south of Glenridge Connector to the vicinity of the North Springs MARTA Station. The proposed express lanes would improve mobility and travel time reliability along the I-285 corridor and become part of the larger Georgia Express Lanes network. The benefits of express lanes in metro Atlanta are proven. The Northwest Corridor Express Lanes reached seven million trips on day 347 of operation, less than a year. That’s almost equivalent to every single resident of metro Atlanta taking a single trip in the express lanes. Additionally, travel speeds in the express lanes are 30 percent faster than the general purpose lanes. As a result, rush hour has been reduced by over one hour in both morning and evening commutes, giving significant time back to commuters formerly spent in congestion.

Advancing the improvement projects along I-285 into the construction phase ahead of the proposed I-285 Top End Express Lanes will provide localized road improvements earlier and help to mitigate traffic challenges during the construction of the express lanes. Offering additional opportunities to bid on these projects helps to maintain healthy competition among our construction developer partners and supports jobs in the construction industry.

The purpose of the PIOH meetings is to provide the public with opportunities to learn more about these projects, see concepts for each project, ask questions to project team representatives, and submit comments. A court reporter will be available to allow the public an opportunity to make verbal comments about the projects as well. The PIOHs will be informal and the public is invited to attend a date and location most convenient to them. There will be no formal presentation and the same information will be presented at all meetings.

While the I-285 Top End Express Lanes and I-285 Advanced Improvement Projects are still in early phases of development, we have been proactively engaging communities all along the corridor for the past couple of years – from city and county leadership to homeowner associations (HOAs) to businesses, civic groups, schools, and more. We will continue to do so and the PIOH series offers the public opportunities to engage and learn more about the project from representatives ahead of the Public Hearing Open House (PHOH) meetings in 2021. The project team has engaged in conversations with several residential and commercial property owners along the corridor to discuss potential right-of-way impacts. Should anyone in your community reach out, feel free to connect them with the project team (contact information below).

We have included additional project materials for reference. If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact the Program Management Consultant Project Manager, Michael Nader, at (470) 351-6312 or the dedicated project hotline at (404) 978-7490, as well as email at TopEndExpressLanes@dot.ga.gov. Similarly, to speak with someone about the I-285 Advanced Improvement Projects, please contact Andrew Hoenig at (404) 631-1757 or email the project team at Advanced_Improvements@dot.ga.gov.

This press release was produced by Cobb County Government. The views expressed here are the author’s own.