Whether you drive a passenger car, medium sized
truck, mini-van, or SUV, our technicians strive to
ensure that your vehicle will be performing at its best
before leaving one of our service bays.
Electronic & High Speed Wheel Balancing
Tire Truing Specialists
Computerized Wheel Alignment
Brake Service
Oil & Lube Service
770.422.3904
530 Manget Street | Marietta, GA 30060
weaverbrakeandtire.com
FACTBOOK 2021 27
The tolled express lane project would also add lanes at the
I-285 and Ga. 400 interchange, granting more access to the
North Springs MARTA station to the north and Johnson
Ferry Road and Glenridge Connector to the south.
Answering questions at a public meeting in Cumberland
in January 2020, Tim Matthews, manager of GDOT’s Major
Mobility Investment Program, said the Top End construction
would be split into two parts.
The portion from the North Springs MARTA station,
south to I-285 and east to DeKalb County would come first,
with construction starting in 2023 and lanes opening in
2028.
The other half, from the I-285 and Ga. 400 interchange
west to Paces Ferry Road, would begin in 2026 and open in
2032, Matthews said.
“There’s an overall economic impact to the state by solving
congestion in these most congested corridors,” he said.
“This is a huge impact.”
Unlike the 30-mile Northwest Corridor Express Lanes on
I-75 and I-575, Matthews said the Top End lanes would not
be reversible and would be open 24/7.
The Northwest Corridor lanes have performed well, reducing
rush hour commutes by over an hour in the morning
and evening and logging more than 7 million trips in
their first year, according to GDOT officials. Those lanes,
which cost $834 million to build, opened in 2018.
Matthews said he expects the Top End Express Lanes will
perform just as well. While he said he couldn’t estimate
how much travel time might be knocked off a commute on
the Top End lanes, he said it would likely be similar to the
Northwest lanes, where motorists are saving 15-30 minutes,
depending on the time of day.
“We think that the demand is going to be just the same
and the results are going to be just the same,” Matthews
said, adding that express lanes are part of the future of metro
Atlanta transportation.
Calling I-20 west, I-285, I-20 east and portions of I-75,
I-85 and Georgia 400 the “most congested corridors in the
state,” Matthews added, “you can’t just widen your way out
of congestion, so we believe (express lanes are) the right
answer.”
He also said a separate project, partially in Cobb County
on the west side of the Perimeter, would add new express
lanes from Paces Ferry Road nearly to I-20 in west Atlanta.
Like the Top End, construction on the Westside Express
Lanes project will begin in 2026, and lanes would open in
2032, Matthews said.
GDOT officials say the Top End and Westside Express
Lane projects will add 14 miles of express lanes in Cobb
County. With those projects, as well as other minor improvements,
Cobb County will see $3 billion in investment
over the next 12 years, Matthews said.
/weaverbrakeandtire.com