Sandy Springs residents quiz GDOT about top end express lanes

The Georgia Department of Transportation held its second public hearing of the week on the I-285 Top End Express Lanes project at Sandy Springs’ Studio Theatre on July 18.

Dunwoody hosted a public hearing on July 16, where city leaders and residents expressed concern and weariness over another long-term construction project.

The project would add two new, barrier-separated express lanes in both directions of I-285 and Ga. 400. It would run along I-285 from the western and eastern connections with I-20 and would include lanes north on Ga. 400 to the North Springs MARTA station. A separate project would extend the express lanes north on Ga. 400 to McFarland Road. Some sections will be at-grade and others will be elevated, GDOT spokesperson Natalie Dale said.

The goal is to create an interconnected system of express lanes in one of the most congested corridors in the state, if not the southeast, Dale said.

Building more lanes alone doesn’t reduce congestion, she said. The lanes must be managed dynamically, using market-based pricing that reflects traffic congestion in real-time.

Elevated structures will be used for lanes because the growing populations in cities like Sandy Springs, Dunwoody and Smyrna make it financially unwise to buy right of way.

Dale said GDOT is working with MARTA and the State Roadway & Tollway Authority to have a mandatory transit component in bid requirements. Transit buses would use the express lanes at no charge.

Michelle Thompson, the president of the Atwater subdivision HOA, said she’s already been impacted by the lack of a sound barrier wall. She said with no barrier wall in place, a drunk driver left the road and struck her in 2020. She sustained a brain injury and has hearing issues.

GDOT had told them a wall was planned in the first phase of construction. The wall would have been constructed along Allen Road Park, which directly borders I-285. But Thompson said the state agency changed its mind because it said too few people or home values were affected. In this project, GDOT said a wall can’t be built.

The neighborhood has suffered from noise day and night caused by road construction that started in 2020, Thompson said.

“Our property values are going to undeniably be diminished. So, we believe that there are engineering steps that they can take to make sure that a wall can protect our community,” Thompson said.

The Georgetown Recreation Club in Dunwoody is getting a sound barrier wall erected between it and the highway, Thompson said.

Matt Campbell, a member of the MARTA Army, a grassroots organization dedicated to improving the transit ridership experience, said the group didn’t like the express lanes plan because they don’t think transit is fully represented in it.

He said that the effort to reach Spanish-speaking residents was too limited considering how many Hispanic people live along the top end, especially in Sandy Springs and Dunwoody. No open house was held in Spanish, neglecting many people living in apartments along the corridor.

The project will be delivered through a public-private partnership model, where the private sector partner(s) will design, construct, finance, operate, and maintain the express lanes in exchange for future toll revenue from the express lanes.

A private firm collecting tolls was another problem Campbell had with the project.

More information can be found online at I-285 Top End Express Lanes (arcgis.com) .

GDOT is accepting comments on the project online through July 29. Comments can be emailed to topendexpresslanes@dot.ga.gov or residents can call the project hotline at (404) 978-7490.

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