Quiet plan to extend Ga. 400 tolls sends loud message (Updated)
Update on Friday: The toll plan passed, as expected. The AJC’s news story is available here. And here are a few comments of my own about what went down today:
1. From the news story: “In order to satisfy the original promise that the tolls would come down in 2011, [Gov. Sonny] Perdue said, SRTA will see if it can suspend the tolls briefly in 2011. When they went back online, he said, they would be a ‘new’ toll. That was suggested by one former Atlanta city councilman, he said, Robb Pitts.”
My comment: That’s just insulting. It may make even more of a mockery of the original promise to take down the toll, and it seems legally questionable since that’s not what the SRTA board voted on. But it also makes a mockery of SRTA’s alleged concern, voiced by a lawyer for the authority at this morning’s DOT board meeting, that it would be unsafe to have “cars trying to speed through there at full speed” if the toll-plaza structure were still in place but the toll was not being collected. So, that’s considered dangerous — but it would be safe enough to only do it for a brief period of time, if that counted as throwing a bone to barking citizens? Please.
2. The Political Insider, Jim Galloway, quoted the governor as saying today that “it’s easy to be a political populist and say ‘broken promises, no trust.’ ”
My comment: If demanding that government stick to its promises and respect the public’s trust now count as “political populism,” the pitchforks may be here sooner than we thought. If the governor truly thinks his plan is what’s best for Georgians, he ought to have the confidence to make his case to the people who pay the tolls — and not join other officials in hiding behind a time crunch that they created themselves in waiting until now to bring the issue up for a vote.
There was nothing stopping them from bringing this issue before the DOT, and then SRTA, a month or two ago. It’s not as if the end of the tolling period has sneaked up on anyone; we’ve known that the date was June 2011 since Perdue was still a Democrat.
3. I attended the DOT board meeting this morning. Now, I have covered any number of governmental meetings and hearings in my career, but this was by far the most embarrassing display I’ve ever seen.
The chairman of the DOT board was so obviously intent on arriving at the predetermined outcome (passage of the resolution to extend the lease of Ga. 400 to SRTA) that he was in constant danger of skipping procedural votes altogether, and didn’t even allow debate on the final motion to extend the lease. It was a spectacle to hear board members participating by teleconference, because they’d received such short notice of the special called meeting, complaining that they couldn’t even hear what was going on. Then, some of them tried to deny the board a quorum by hanging up their phones en masse (it didn’t work).
It was like watching the Keystone Cops conduct a Kabuki enactment of a kangaroo court. It was pathetic, even from a confirmed skeptic’s perspective.
In any case, here’s what I originally wrote Wednesday:
Politicians aren’t renowned for long-term thinking. In the quiet plan to extend the Georgia 400 toll, we’re witnessing a short-term mistake that may have lasting consequences.
As toll booths went up on Ga. 400 between I-285 and Lenox Road in Buckhead, they came with a promise that the levy would end in 20 years, when the bonds to pay for the highway’s southward extension were paid off. Next June marks the blessed anniversary.
Yet Friday, the boards of the Department of Transportation and the State Roads and Tollway Authority will review a plan to keep charging the toll for perhaps eight more years. Actually, it’s worse than that: For motorists without a prepaid “Cruise Card,” the standard toll could be doubled to $1.
If the AJC had not reported the arrangement last Friday, you may not have heard about it until after the votes were counted.
The plan apparently was to keep citizens in the dark about the toll extension. Details have been hard to come by. Before citizens can vet the proposals, the DOT board may vote to prolong its lease of Ga. 400 to SRTA, which in turn may vote to approve new bonds for construction on the highway and an extended period of tolling to pay for it.
It’s suspicious, not least because there’s a good chance that the public might actually favor some of the dozen projects on the list.
Here’s guessing that, for instance, those who pay the toll would favor a ramp to connect Ga. 400 with the northbound lanes of I-85. Improvements to other exits along the highway would also be welcome.
Commuters might even consider such projects worth a few more years of paying tolls. Eight years? Probably not, given that the toll booths collect some $20 million a year, and the projects are expected to cost far less than $160 million. Not to mention that toll revenues through June 2011 already were projected to exceed what is needed to pay off the bonds by tens of millions of dollars.
But state officials didn’t want to ask us. Why?
Maybe they think they know what’s best for us. Maybe they didn’t think they could win the argument. Maybe they think that, as long as they have the votes on the two agencies’ boards of directors, they don’t need the public’s input. Maybe there’s something within the plan that they wanted to keep out of sight as long as possible.
None of these are charitable explanations. But it’s hard to give state officials the benefit of the doubt here, given their reticence.
In any case, it’s a curious situation in which to find Gov. Sonny Perdue, who chairs the SRTA board.
One of the biggest knocks on Perdue’s tenure has been his failure, until his last legislative session, to produce a comprehensive plan to alleviate traffic gridlock in Atlanta and beyond. Now he’s leading a bum rush to fix up Ga. 400?
Even now, the next governor’s first term will be halfway over before we see any fruits from Perdue’s plan, a series of regional referendums in 2012 on a one-cent sales tax to fund transportation. And that’s assuming voters in at least one region approve the tax.
Speaking of the tax:
Every supporter of the sales tax for transportation with whom I’ve spoken emphasizes that the key issue is public trust: Which projects will be done? How can we be sure that the information we’re given about costs, benefits and so on is accurate? Do we trust our elected officials to keep the promises they make?
Atlantans might like the projects that end up in the sales-tax proposal, just as they might like the ones slated for an extended 400 toll. But the case for simply trusting our transportation planners may die in two board meetings Friday.
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177 comments Add your comment
Jimmy62
September 23rd, 2010
9:29 am
The principles of the Republican Party are great, unfortunately the current group calling itself the GOP has failed to live up to those principles. Thankfully the Tea Party is voting them out of office one by one.
Hey
September 23rd, 2010
9:41 am
At least we aren’t Florida, there seems to be tolls on every highway running through that state!
John
September 23rd, 2010
9:42 am
Lord, help me. I seem to agree with Wingfield!
retiredds
September 23rd, 2010
9:44 am
Jimmy62, and let us remember that the Tea Party folks will be bellying up to the money trough to get reelected down the road. And to whom will they be beholden?
BW
September 23rd, 2010
9:44 am
LOL…wow…the government won’t listen to the “public”…well who is this “public” that they should listen to? The politicians are the people’s representatives right….does that mean the general public or the ones who contribute to their campaign funds? There is so much naivete and “hope” for “change” on this blog that it amazes me. The argument is all wrong….it’s not that “conservatives” are against government they just want that government to do what they say.
Kyle…can you imagine how many projects could be torpedoed by a few anti-growth people in this region? Do the needs of the many outweigh the needs of a few? The US would cease to exist as we know it if we allowed this. I get your point…the politicians basically don’t care about us. No arguments about this point. But where you and the so-called tea party lose me and many others is what do you replace the current system with. The only thing I hear is this myopic sad and naive view that the world needs to go back to the 1950’s when America was on top and everyone knew their place. I got news for you…this ain’t the 50’s and thank goodness in the case of some people who weren’t a part of the American dream. What happens when the other party takes power and these poor fools realize that they are bankrupt of ideas too? To think that people honestly believe that the government will listen to them when they offer no solution to the problem is mind-boggling. Anyone who works knows that if you bring your boss all problems and no solutions then it’s a recipe to be downsized. The only thing that can be asked for in this process is the transparency of which projects are being considered and that no general fund money be used for it. Any thing else is fantasy land especially the part where people actually think the toll is coming down. Don’t like it….don’t use it.
MB
September 23rd, 2010
9:46 am
Screw ‘em, I’ll just go another way. If they renew the toll, people should simply stop using that stretch of 400 and just go around. There’s no way in hell I’d pay $1.00 for a toll.
tommytwotone@hotmail.com
September 23rd, 2010
9:46 am
Once the leeches in government sink their claws into something, you can forget about them ever letting go.
They’re corrupt, braindead, and incapable of life outside of the private sector, so they resort to criminal tactics and bending the laws and constitution for their own gain.
And this is also another reason to reform Milton county. Let their toll booths fund their idiocy.
fair and imbalanced
September 23rd, 2010
9:49 am
I use the 400 everyday.I could not care less about the toll.
tommytwotone@hotmail.com
September 23rd, 2010
9:51 am
“But where you and the so-called tea party lose me and many others is what do you replace the current system with.”
—————————————-
If you don’t know, then you just aren’t paying attention….and probably willfully. I can tell because the slant of your post is that it’s the government’s job to solve problems, be involved in our lives, and that we need “ideas” from them.
Couldn’t be further from the truth, as evidenced by the last 50 or 60 years.
Dunwoody
September 23rd, 2010
10:01 am
The toll should come off. The toll should not return until all quadrants of Atlanta have to pay a toll. Northern metro should not be the sole toll payer once the bonds for GA400 are paid off.
Tom2
September 23rd, 2010
10:02 am
So if the tolls are gone, will SRTA no longer be funded? Is there a motive there? Is this politically appointed job protection for those that don’t contribute squat?
Peter
September 23rd, 2010
10:04 am
Hey commoncents….I think you corrected me……. Yes Georgia Politicians……. Republican’s have been the state leaders for some time now, and Zero seems to have been accomplished, so I do vent about the Republican’s.
On the other hand I don’t trust either party….. Politician’s are typically lawyers……who here trusts a lawyer ?
Buzz G
September 23rd, 2010
10:11 am
I saw the same crap when I lived in NY State in the early 80’s. They had earlier convinced the people of NY to put up tolls on the NY Thruway with the promise (actually passed a law) that the tolls would disappear when the bonds were paid. The year before the bonds were paid, politicians (Democrats) changed the law to allow the tolls to remain indefinitely. Remember, the tolls are a form of tax and once a tax is passed, there is no chance in hell that politicians will remove it. Their power comes from money. Politicians are the same all over. It is Tea Party time.
BW
September 23rd, 2010
10:13 am
@tommytwotone
It is not the government’s job to solve every problem….obviously what you don’t get is that I certainly don’t trust your emotional *** to solve any problem facing this country. This belief of liberty and freedom is the same thing that led the South to secede from the union and we all know how that turned out. If you have an idea that is not a nihilistic one then present it….I’m guessing that you don’t. I live in a world where compromise is a reality, where believing a politician is simple naivete, and one where I shut my mouth keep my head down and work my *** off because guess what bringing home something is better than nothing. Luck and a little education determine how well you do in this life….the sooner you realize this the more content you’ll be.
BW
September 23rd, 2010
10:14 am
Buzz
You just don’t get it….it’s about the money period. That is the system regardless of political party….vote one out and another takes their place and becomes the same.
Left wing management
September 23rd, 2010
10:20 am
“No, folks, your Republican leaders can make all the promises they want about lowering taxes and cutting spending but the same outcome will result … you are being lied to.”
And they’re getting ready to try to pull off one of their biggest lies yet.
Contract with America, anyone? Be sure to turn out the light boys (and girls) when you throw the switch.
Or should we say instead “Illusion with America”, Erick Erickson calls it ? He doesn’t know the half of it.
Get ready folks. The neo-liberals and their doughboy fellow travelers in the former Confederate states are getting ready for Big Lie II. The encore to the fireworks extravaganza of 1995. Better get your lawn chairs out there to reserve a place. Places are expected to be scarce.
Kevin
September 23rd, 2010
10:27 am
Do not ever allow a government to impose another tax. They will NEVER give it up.
This is precisely why we should fight like hell to limit ANY expansion of government. It’s a cancer.
BW
September 23rd, 2010
10:27 am
@ leftwing….the problem is so many people are actually sopping this crap up. Don’t trust the current legislators trust this set. I truly feel sorry for some of these people….hopefully they don’t take the nation down with them when they go down in flames.
Dirty Dawg
September 23rd, 2010
10:27 am
Hey my wife and I routinely travel 400 so I’m all for them to do away with the toll and make everybody pay for our more convenient ride rather than just those of us that use it. And don’t think it won’t keep on being charged. The money from the 400 tolls has long-since been folded into the budget and, trust me, they’ll find a way to make up for it’s removal that’ll then be shared by everyone. Happy?
retiredds
September 23rd, 2010
10:38 am
Below are from the Montreal Gazette.com
Notice that operative word “regaining power”. That encapsulates the sole reason for this public sham. And Eric Erikson has nailed it as well.
The GA 400 action and Nathan Deal’s hiding his finances from his supporters all fits nicely into the patterns offered to us by the “family values” party.
WASHINGTON — With their eyes on regaining power on Capitol Hill, U.S. Republicans on Thursday will unveil their ‘Pledge to America,’ a 21-page mid-term election platform in which they pledge to end President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus, repeal his health-care reforms, cap federal spending and permanently extend Bush-era tax cuts.
But Eric Erickson, writing on the RedState.org website, called the document “ridiculous” and lacking in detail.
“It is full of mom tested, kid approved pablum that will make certain hearts on the right sing in solidarity,’ Erickson wrote. “But like a diet full of sugar, it will actually do nothing but keep making Washington fatter before we crash from the sugar high.”
They use the term pledge. Here’s the definition: “A solemn binding promise to do, give, or refrain from doing something”. And do you believe they will honor their pledge?
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Republicans+unveil+blueprint+term+campaign/3567655/story.html#ixzz10MZKs14K
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Republicans+unveil+blueprint+term+campaign/3567655/story.html#ixzz10MVEwrjw
left wing
September 23rd, 2010
10:40 am
As someone who lives off of GA 400, I would be in favor of extending the toll if they were going to use the money to fix the 400/I-285 interchange.
And Left wing management is still infringing on my name. I’ve been posting on Cynthia’s and Kyle’s blog for more than half a year under this pseudonym.
JB
September 23rd, 2010
10:43 am
The 400 toll is exactly how we should tax our citizens. Use and sales tax should replace income/property tax. That would make taxation more equitable, make it harder to cheat (picking up taxes on illegals and the undeground drug economy) and encourage people to conserve and save.
Danny O
September 23rd, 2010
10:52 am
I’m surprised that there hasn’t been talk of a third option: cutting the toll in half to 25 cents. This would allow for a continued stream of funding but would require planners to prioritize and pare the project list. Officials could claim that they are delivering a 50% reduction in the toll.
But if it is going to stay at 50 cents (or heaven forbid even increase) why isn’t there any consideration of connecting State Highway 12 (also known as the limited access portion of Buford Highway) to 400? It’s hell trying to get from Midtown to GA 400.
Drew
September 23rd, 2010
11:22 am
There’s no real issue here, it’s just another vivid example of how ‘our’ government routinely lies to us and then does whatever they want. What’s really amazing is how many of us don’t get the message.
Hillbilly Deluxe
September 23rd, 2010
11:22 am
the key issue is public trust:
Which is non-existent. I remember all those years ago when the first MARTA referendum passed. That was only going to last 10 years. Once they get money coming in, they’ll keep it going, forever. The 400 Toll will be there long after we’re all dead and gone.
Mike
September 23rd, 2010
11:26 am
So you all want to pay LOWER taxes but you want MORE services? Also, most of you don’t support mass transit but you want more road improvements, but at the same time you’re not willing to pay a 50 cent or $1 toll (that is very cheap by the way, compared to most tolls around the country) to fund continued improvements.
What solutions do you all have??? Or should we just do nothing, and let our infrastructure continue to deteoriate? Then you all moan and complain why the metro unemployment rate continues to go up, but what company is going to move here if our infrastructure sucks and we aren’t doing anything to make it better? That’s right, not that many.
If anything, Kyle Wingnut and the rest of you fools are the short-sighted ones.
MG
September 23rd, 2010
11:28 am
The people complaining on here about having to pay a small toll to use a road and fund improvements on it are the same ones saying people who use mass transit should be the ones paying for it. I guess it sucks when you have to be the one paying for it doesn’t it? People in Georgia are morons.
David C
September 23rd, 2010
11:32 am
I agree with Kyle.
But why didn’t they build the 400 to I-85 N interchange in the first place??? This should have been done a long time ago. Now they want to tax us more to build it!!!
Bob
September 23rd, 2010
11:36 am
If it means they’re actually going to solve the 400 south to 85 south junction, which is a daily source of trauma for people heading through it, then another year or two of suffering the tolls is well worth it.
Phil
September 23rd, 2010
11:38 am
Keep the toll. Drive less, carpool, and take Marta
JP
September 23rd, 2010
11:42 am
Kyle -
I hardly agree with you about anything, but I agree with you on this one, mainly why was all of this done in the dark? I think most folks would pay for improvements to our highways, but to do it like this gives more validation to the “government is the problem” argument.
itpdude
September 23rd, 2010
11:47 am
Not that the choice was that great, I voted for Sonny in 2002 primarily because Barnes wanted the outer perimeter.
Sonny has been a disappointment regarding transportation, but at least we didn’t get the outer perimeter.
If the politicians said the toll would end after X time, it needs to end. However, I’d like to see tolls in more places and have them fund trains and buses rather than more roads. Atlanta has enough roads already, however, we don’t have enough in the way of train stations, buses, trains, etc. We need to look to the future and be real: Building more roads will not help Atlanta’s traffic. If you build it, they will come. The gridlock is alleviated for a couple months, tops.
Hold Roy Barnes Accountable
September 23rd, 2010
11:54 am
The ajc is a gutless rag, not worth our effort to read. They let controversial stories about favored politicians die of neglect, while publishing nonsense crap. They should be looking at the controversial diversion of Ga 400 Toll Road money to improving the I-75 exit at Atlantic Station, and the 100 million dollars of Medicaid money given to an out of state law firm for a 100 odd page report, on a no bid contract yet. But the rag has inner city losers to suck up to, so the past is forgotten, and we the taxpayers are doomed to repeatedly being robbed by FatBoy and its ilk.
Scott
September 23rd, 2010
11:56 am
If the money could be used to improve mass transportation initiatives in an effort to make Atlanta a real city, I would be all for keeping and increasing the toll. Money thrown at highways will do nothing but invite more traffic. It will not reduce traffic. It never has. In any city. The result will be more people living in the suburbs, eating at Applebees, and commuting into Atlanta during the work week, which I find disgusting.
Left wing management
September 23rd, 2010
11:57 am
Hey Roybie: who’s really responsible for these diversions?
Kyle Wingfield
September 23rd, 2010
12:09 pm
Mike: I have no philosophical problem with toll roads. I do have a philosophical problem when the toll is supposed to last a certain amount of time and the government doesn’t make even a feeble effort to consult the public before deciding unilaterally to cancel that promise.
And to everyone who’s cynically suggested that you have to be naive to think politicians would do anything else — well, if you want to be treated better, you have to start by demanding better treatment. Skepticism is a virtue, but cynicism alone is what has brought us to this point.
Tom2: I also wondered about whether this was just a way to keep SRTA alive, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. SRTA is also financing the new HOT lanes on I-85, which will be an ongoing program. The closest thing to eternal life on earth may be a government program, but I don’t think the 400 toll alone is what’s keeping SRTA going.
Jefferson
September 23rd, 2010
12:15 pm
Another road tax ? Who is running this state ?
Jefferson Jackson
September 23rd, 2010
12:26 pm
Mike is obviously the fool. Besotted by Leftist propaganda, he has lot the ability to think. This is not a difference between Left and Right, but between right and wrong. One thing was promised (in good faith, I suppose) and now is being overturned. If you want to keep the toll/raiae the toll, fine; just don’t do it behind closed doors (the preferred Democratic Party way.)
Jefferson
September 23rd, 2010
12:31 pm
Why not toll schools ?
Andrew
September 23rd, 2010
12:42 pm
I think people do need to recognize the need for money for some of these projects. I would love to see the I-285 and GA 400 interchange re-worked. Especially that 285 eastbound to 400 Northbound merge. The left lane merge with the lane ending abruptly need to be corrected. It also wouldn’t hurt to rework things so that Westbound 285 has easier access to Glenridge Connector. Both are manageable but I am surprised more accidents don’t occur there.
Still the bottom line is the fact that the toll money needs to stay in Atlanta. It should be first used for 400 projects. And then possibly for projects downtown. The money cannot be allowed to leave the city.
Left wing management
September 23rd, 2010
12:43 pm
In all seriousness Kyle, I wouldn’t be surprised if in the case of toll roads there isn’t a certain unspoken – and hence assumed – fondness for the things, as an urban fixture and reminder of the cities up North that have them (or a sense that Atlanta is a more “big-time” city because it has one). Sort of like graffiti, if you will.
Either way of course it’s clear that the proposition of bureaucrats voluntarily giving up revenue freely is unrealistic. But I wouldn’t put something of this kind of back-of-the-mind reasoning past a Sunbelt city.
Cliff
September 23rd, 2010
12:45 pm
If they extend the toll, which they promised they would remove, I can guarantee I will vote AGAINST the sales tax for transportation. I’m not going along with giving them more when they can’t follow through on the promises they’ve made to date.
Kyle Wingfield
September 23rd, 2010
12:46 pm
Andrew: I guess you’ll have to hope that the 285 interchange is on the list next time they go back on their word to take down the tolls. It’s not on this list.
Mike
September 23rd, 2010
12:56 pm
The 285 interchange project is most likely not on the list because it is a part of the project to widen 285 between 75 and 85 with managed toll lanes and transit. I wish most of you would do your research before speaking.
Also, Jefferson Jackson, where in my post did I say anything about this being a Left or Right situation? I was simply asking how many of you want to pay LOWER taxes yet you want MORE services from the government. Obviously the cost is going to get shifted to the user in the form of tolls. You basically just put a bunch of words in my mouth and spewed a bunch of Republican rhetoric – typical when you have nothing to really say. If anyone is brainwashed, it’s you.
BW
September 23rd, 2010
12:57 pm
If you elect Democrats and can’t trust them and then you elect Republicans and you can’t trust them then who is left? Do you people honestly believe that this state let alone the nation will stand still because you don’t trust them?
Left wing management
September 23rd, 2010
1:25 pm
Mike: “Also, Jefferson Jackson, where in my post did I say anything about this being a Left or Right situation? I was simply asking how many of you want to pay LOWER taxes yet you want MORE services from the government.”
I hear ya brother and am sympathetic with your position. But you gotta know that the moment you open your mouth about “taxes” and “services” you’re on hotly contested terrain and the goons with the well-coiffed Hannity hairdo’s are going to come after you as soon as you can say “fairly imbalanced”.
boots
September 23rd, 2010
1:41 pm
Theft by the government is as evil as by an individual. HONOR YOUR PROMISES, GEORGIA. You cannot complain about a runaway federal government and keep committing the same crimes at home. I live in N. Forsyth and would love 15 lanes on GA 400, but it is dishonest and unethical to extend the toll. We just cannot afford the spending any more. STOP THE SPENDING. Further, it is unfair to charge one set of commuters when other state-wide projects benefit from their tax. Stick a new toll road on a highway in Columbus or Savannah or in Gwinnett, but the best thing to do is to STOP TAXING AND SPENDING and let the economy grow. UGH!!! Why can’t the elected crooks get this through their thick skulls????
Left wing management
September 23rd, 2010
1:44 pm
Boots, you seem really exercised about taxing and spending, but frankly I don’t see a problem with it at all. What’s the big deal?
The Chinese seem to be building hyper-modern metropolises as we speak, cities that are rivaling our creaking industrial centers as job centers, and I can tell you one thing they’re not worried about, and that is spending.
boots
September 23rd, 2010
1:44 pm
And you can be sure that King Roy and the Atlanta crowd at the Dome doesn’t care who gets taxed and for how long. The “Republicans” need to show some principals and defeat this or else they can get a freakin’ real job and start calling themselves what they are: tax and spend Democrats.
Hillbilly Deluxe
September 23rd, 2010
1:50 pm
The Chinese seem to be building hyper-modern metropolises as we speak, cities that are rivaling our creaking industrial centers as job centers, and I can tell you one thing they’re not worried about, and that is spending.
They very well may be the next bubble to burst.