Road Would Violate Clean Air Act

Proposal and savings
Deny funding for the construction of a collector-distributor system along 3.8 miles of Georgia Route 400. Total project cost is at least $200 million — 80 percent federally funded.

Background
In an effort to relieve traffic congestion, the Fulton County and Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) officials have devised a plan to construct a collector-distributor system that would create a series of through and local traffic lanes parallel to a 3.8 mile stretch of Ga. Rt. 400 between Hammond and Spalding Drives. This project would result in the widening of Ga. Rt. 400 to as many as 18 possible lanes.

Status
Although the project would be ineligible for federal funding due to Clean Air Act violations, GDOT has discovered a "loophole" that enables the project to be grandfathered and receive federal monies. Under a negotiated agreement with the Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), GDOT may proceed with right of way acquisitions, but is prohibited from seeking design or construction authorization until Atlanta has a conforming air quality and Regional Transportation Plan, which may not occur until 2001.

Problems with the Project

Taxpayer Concerns
$200 million is an excessive price for a duplicative road project since it will be located next to a new, heavy rail Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) station. This station was conceived with the same purpose of relieving congestion in the area and is already under construction.

Local Community Concerns
Northern Fulton County has become a major area of metropolitan growth and sprawl over the past several years. The possible 18 traffic lanes created by the project will not only increase congestion as the area continues to be developed at an unchecked pace, but will also further overwhelm connected secondary roads that cannot address current traffic levels. Many local residents are concerned that the collector distributor design is an example of transportation investments dictating land-use decisions.

Environmental Concerns
Although the project may relieve short term congestion, the widening of Route 400 to possibly 18 lanes will increase traffic volume, noise pollution, and vehicle emissions, which will further degrade Atlanta’s poor air quality.Stating that the project would further degrade Atlanta’s already poor air and water quality by increasing vehicle capacity and exhaust fumes, the EPA objected to the proposal in a revised Environmental Assessment released in 1997. This project will also demolish every tree between I-85 and the MARTA Northsprings station.

Contacts
Gary Palmer, (404) 845-0666, Gpalmer2@bellsouth.net ; Eric Meyer, Georgia Conservancy, (404) 876-2900, eameyer@gaconservancy.org ; Wesley Woolf, Southern Environmental Law Center, (404) 521-9900.

I-285 Expansion
Atlanta, GA
N/A

10 More Lanes at $83 Million Per Mile

Proposal and savings
Cancel funding for the proposed expansion of the Northern Arc of I-285 in Atlanta, Georgia. The total project cost is $500 million with the federal share unknown.

Background
The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) plans to build an additional 10 lanes on a six-mile stretch of the Northern Arc of I-285. Touting safety and operational improvements as justifications, GDOT proposes to expand I-285 from Riverside Drive in Fulton County to Chamblee-Dunwoody Road in Dekalb County.

Status
Due to complications with the Clean Air Act, as well as local and state opposition, the proposed expansion of the Northern Arc is presently delayed. But the plans still exist. New intersecting overpasses currently being built on I-285 are designed to accommodate the eventual expansion of the highway by 10 additional lanes.

Problems with the project
Taxpayer Concerns The proposed I-285 expansion project is extremely expensive at $83 million per mile. GDOT has already been allocated $13 million (80 percent of which is federal money) for preliminary engineering studies on the proposed project. Cheaper alternatives exist that would address the region’s traffic problems, including mass transit options. According to an April 1997 Atlanta Constitution editorial, "The region’s leaders must think in terms of a mix of all workable options to cut down traffic jams and airborne pollutants. They can no longer put all their eggs in a concrete basket, as the DOT wants to do."

Local Community Concerns
There is significant local opposition to the project. Area residents have collected over 1,400 petition signatures opposing the project in an effort to get GDOT to examine all of the transportation alternatives, including a light rail system. Local residents fear that the project would spark commercial development that would overburden the area’s infrastructure. According to the Atlanta Business Chronicle, "North Dekalb homeowners and area legislators worry that widening I-285 will only worsen congestion by bringing more cars to the Perimeter Center area."

Environmental Concerns
The I-285 expansion would increase air pollution in a region that is already under non-attainment status under the provisions of the Clean Air Act. Furthermore, Atlanta is under a federal order to reduce ground-level ozone (produced by auto emissions) in 13 counties by 1999.The proposed project would exacerbate urban sprawl in a metro area that already covers over 20 counties.

Contacts
Eric Hovdesven, Gainsborough 500 Transportation Committee, (770) 587-2570; Jim Chapman, Georgians for Transportation Alternatives, (404) 653-0966.

I-85 Sugarloaf Parkway
Atlanta, GA
24 million

Fourteen Lane Folly

Proposal and savings
Deny funding for the third and last phase of the proposed I-85 Sugarloaf Parkway. Estimated project costs are $30 million — 80 percent federally funded.

Background
This project is the third part of a three-phase construction effort to build 3.2-mile, three-lane, collector distributor roads that would lie on either side of I-85 and expand the road to 14 lanes. The plans also leave space for two extra lanes to be built in both directions which would allow for 18 lanes on four separate roadways.

Status
Because of Clean Air Act Violations, the federal government decided that Atlanta’s air is too polluted for the city to receive funds for new road construction. However, the project would still receive federal monies since it was approved prior to the decision. The first phase of the project, including a 21-lane bridge carrying I-85 over Sugarloaf Parkway, is complete and the second phase is well under way. Although an Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) review recommended denying a rezoning request generated by phase three of the project, Gwinnett County still approved the measure

Problems with the Project

Taxpayer Concerns
Adding ten lanes to a few isolated freeway segments does not make sense when the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) and ARC have not presented a plan for how the full system could be completed or what would result if it was. More cost-effective alternatives exist for addressing area congestion, such as building a commuter rail system, and expanding high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes and bus service.

Local Community Concerns
Many local residents feel that the ARC and GDOT are allowing land use decisions and sprawl to dictate transportation projects that will adversely affect their communities. Residents complain that the project was not accurately represented to them, especially given rezoning approvals for over five million square feet of offices and hotels and a 1.7 million square foot mall. These will increase traffic, pave wetlands, and intrude on once-peaceful neighborhoods.

Environmental Concerns
The Environmental Protection Agency has already determined that Atlanta’s air quality fails to meet minimum standards to receive federal highway funding. This project will make Atlanta’s pollution worse as it will increase traffic volume and resulting ozone emissions. Atlantans already drive 30 percent more than the national average and more than any urban population on Earth.

Contacts
Tom Marney, (770) 339-9750, tmarney@bellsouth.net or www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Senate/3973 ; Jim Chapman, Georgians for Transportation Alternatives, (404) 653-0966.