COMMUNITY
Tim Matthews, Major Mobility Investment Program manager at Georgia Department of Transportation, gestures to a portion of the Top End Express Lanes
project near The Battery Atlanta and Truist Park. - Staff
GDOT places big bet on express
lanes after initial success
Staff reports
The Northwest Corridor Express Lanes were a resounding
success. Running along nearly 30 miles of Interstates 75
and 575 in Cobb and Cherokee counties, data from the year
after their September 2018 debut showed they had dramatically
sped up travel time along those highways.
Fortunately for drivers, the Georgia Department of
Transportation is poised to spend another $5 billion on
new express lanes stretching 22.6 miles across the top of the
Perimeter. An estimated $3 billion is planned to be spent
26 FACTBOOK 2021
in Cobb County on the tolled lanes and associated projects,
but drivers will have to wait 12 years before they open.
Cobb residents and transportation officials say the project,
like others of its kind, will help to alleviate congestion
and expedite travel around some of the most congested
areas of the county and the metro area.
The Top End Express Lanes project would add two express
lanes in both directions on the northern portion of
Interstate 285 from Paces Ferry Road, just southwest of I-75
in Cobb County, to Henderson Road, just southeast of I-85
in DeKalb County.