Ending the Ga. 400 tolls now isn’t a great idea
OK, I’m going to be the bad guy today. I’m going to be the only (according to my Twitter feed, anyway) person who thinks Gov. Nathan Deal’s plan to end the toll on Ga. 400 by the end of next year, which he announced today, is a bad idea. (For the record, I pay the toll going and coming every workday.)
Coming 12 days before the T-SPLOST referendum, this is an obvious pander for “yes” votes. It’s a last-ditch attempt to save what would appear to be an expensive but failed campaign to pass the $7.2 billion tax. But I highly doubt it will be an effective one.
There is no doubt the broken promise to remove the 400 toll — broken in 2010 by lame-duck Gov. Sonny Perdue — is a huge driver of opposition to the T-SPLOST. It is one of the clearest examples of why trust in government is lacking. Deal addressed this issue in a press-release quote about removing the toll, saying “it is imperative that governments build the trust of their people.”
But I will be very surprised if many voters upset about the broken toll promise hear Deal’s new promise to take it down — 17 months from now — and suddenly feel their faith in government renewed. In all likelihood, the damage is done.
The biggest problem I have with this decision, however, is that it ties our hands for making transportation improvements should the T-SPLOST fail.
Three things that many proponents and opponents of the tax agree on are: 1) we need to improve our transportation infrastructure; 2) the $450 million rebuilding of the interchange at 400 and I-285 is one of the most-needed projects; and 3) additional revenue is needed to pay for the biggest improvements.
Keep in mind the 400-285 interchange is just one of the projects along 400: Also on the T-SPLOST list are $190 million for collector/distributor lanes from 285 north to Spalding Drive and $48 million for improvements to the interchange at Holcomb Bridge Road. The referendum may fail because voters don’t think the entire list is worthwhile. But given the needs in the 400 corridor, I find it hard to believe it’s really a good idea before the referendum to forgo an existing revenue stream for projects there.
Government’s trust problem has as much to do with how it often goes about its work — e.g., the quick-and-quiet way the 400 toll was extended in the first place, and the belief by many voters that the T-SPLOST list was not compiled to maximize congestion relief but development opportunities — as anything else. What ticks off people around here is the sense that our elected officials are playing political games with issues that affect residents’ everyday lives, rather than setting a course of action and explaining/selling it to the public.
A last-minute bid to win support for a distrusted tax, while closing off options for the future, doesn’t do much to bolster my confidence in them.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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186 comments Add your comment
@@
July 20th, 2012
8:21 am
Speaking of Atlanta…
Spoiled kids? Atlanta’s got ‘em.
Atlanta ranked No. 7 in cities that spoil their kids, according to a survey released last month by Bundle.com, a company that assesses consumers’ spending habits.
schnirt
aps
July 20th, 2012
8:44 am
I hear that MARTA to Alpharetta is scheduled for 2025. That’ll help us now. Also, no one has stated what happens to the tax on each gallon of gas. This tax is supposed to be used for exactly what the TSPLOST funds are for, yet it gets siphoned off by politicians and we’re left in the situation that we have now. These lifetime politicians have screwed us time and time again but we keep sending them back to office.
Whirled Peas
July 20th, 2012
9:10 am
The best way to get the attention of a mule is to hit him on the ass with a two by four. And the politicians can see that the voters have the two by four in hand and ready for a good swat. Removing the tolls is a gimick that they how will stave off the two by four.
j
July 20th, 2012
9:10 am
Kyle, i agree with you but only for a different reason. I too pay the toll everyday and enjoy the cruise lane. Lift the 400 toll and i’m stuck sitting in traffic in the mornings. I do agree that the toll should have been lifted as promised but i think there is an easy fix to this. Create a cruise lane on 400, remove the old tolls, and use the cruise money to pay for road repairs. Or, take away the tolls on the weekends, and use the toll money during the week for the TSPLOST referendum. I’m not voting yes to raising the tax by 1% when there are better alternatives.
The Government is Stupid
July 20th, 2012
9:12 am
Kyle,
I agree that we need an actually interchange at 400 and 285. Right now all we have is a connection. The problem with the plan is that “Construction likely to occur in Band
3 (2020‐2022)”. That is straight from the plan…….so ten years from now we would have some relief. Now look at the plan to add toll lanes to 75 and 575…..that will not help if there is no road improvement on 285 between 75 and 400. A really improvement would be to build express lanes that only allow entrance and exit at certain locations……for example….a express lane on 285 that starts at 75 and the next exit is 400 then the next exit is 85 then 78 then 20……etc. This reduces the cross over lane traffic and people will not constantly be on their brakes……so traffic would continue to flow. That project is not even on the list. My vote is NO. For the second plan maybe they should try and fund the most important and biggest bang project FIRST and work them FIRST.
The Government is Stupid
July 20th, 2012
9:19 am
@APS
No MARTA to Alpharetta is not funded….at least not what you think…..From the report “This project funds the corridor planning, engineering, environmental review and assessment, improved interim bus services, and possible
limited right‐of‐way acquisition for the extension of the MARTA North (Red) Line.” No train, no platform, no track, and only ‘possible LIMITED ROW acquisition’!!!!! the second time the tax is approved might possibly get a train to alpharetta…..sometime after 2025….but by then the studies will be out of date and have to be completed again. The correct vote is NO!
Jimmy62
July 20th, 2012
9:43 am
Wouldn’t a gas tax make more sense? That way the people who use the roads pay for the roads.
iggy
July 20th, 2012
10:09 am
If Marta began rail construction, from the end of line to Alpharetta, its highly questionable if it would be completed by 2025. When, if ever, the Marta train pulls into Alpharetta look for a business demographic shift.
Remember the flight from Perimeter mall. Marta turned Perimeter mall into a very undesirable place to be.
Road Scholar
July 20th, 2012
10:10 am
Jm: Please enlighten us as to how would you build double decking the perimeter?
NOTEESPLOST
July 20th, 2012
10:16 am
Georgia was recently named the most corrupt state. Use the money you’ve already taken from us, balance the budget and apply oversight to prioritize the projects. I would like a new truck with a working heater, but I can wear a coat another winter and use the money I was tucking away to fix the heat pump in the house for my entire family.
AU Liberal in ATL
July 20th, 2012
10:28 am
Hey hypocrite, think of the toll as a tax. Now, what’s your self important opinion?
catlady
July 20th, 2012
10:36 am
Just shows how unneeded the extension of the tax was, that it can be dropped right before the election. Crooked is as crooked does. Many of us might have voted for Tsplost if the toll had ended as it was supposed to. This lets you see how crooked the whole thing was.
Kyle Wingfield
July 20th, 2012
10:42 am
Bill @ 8:02: I’m willing to pay for things that I consider a good value. Do you feel differently?
Kyle Wingfield
July 20th, 2012
10:43 am
I’m a liberal @ 8:03: This blog isn’t for complaining about other AJC blogs. If you want to write about the topic at hand, feel free to do so.
Kyle Wingfield
July 20th, 2012
10:47 am
AU Liberal @ 10:28: I don’t know what to think of someone who comes on an opinion blog and then complains that the blogger writes his opinions.
Except that it pretty much confirms what I thought about Auburn…
Kyle Wingfield
July 20th, 2012
10:47 am
We’re not going into the Colorado shooting on this comment thread. If you must say something, say a prayer for the victims and their families.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
July 20th, 2012
10:55 am
Mr. Romney wasn’t so much a captain of industry as a captain of deindustrialization, making big profits for his firm (and himself) by helping to dismantle the implicit social contract that used to make the United States a middle-class society. So now he proposes bringing the skills and techniques he used in business to the White House. Somehow, I’m not enthusiastic about the prospect.
Paul Krugman
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
July 20th, 2012
10:58 am
Kyle, lots of folks don’t understand the difference between “opinion/editorial” and “news”.
They used to come on Jay’s blog all the time asking him to just give the news and stop giving his opinion. Blows the mind.
md
July 20th, 2012
11:00 am
Krugmans an idiot……that social contract stopped the minute the american consumer began it’s quest for the cheapest goods it could find……….there was not one iota of concern about the neighbors job then, and not much now either…….
Choices absolutely do have consequences……now live with them.
TruthBe
July 20th, 2012
11:02 am
YES. Why? Because a deal is a deal, and a contract is to be honored, and your word is your bond. The State had a contract with the people of Georgia to take it down, in fact the contract had a sunset rule in it. REMEMBER???????? And the last election the now Governor Deal PROMISED to remove the toll for good period. So keep your word. And also VOTE NO on T-SPLOST.. Because of all the extra taxes and spending in it that has NOTHING to do with fixing the traffic problems. NO NEW TAXES FOR ANYTHING EVER UNTIL THE GOVERNMENT STOPS WASTING OUR HARD EARNED MONEY. Stop spending and cut the size of government. That includes state, city, county, and federal governments. Fire all the career corrupt politicians.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
July 20th, 2012
11:04 am
If I ever had any doubts about voting for Mitt Romney before, knowing that Paul Krugman doesn’t like him and feels the need to lie about him certainly cements my upcoming vote for Romney.
Bruno
July 20th, 2012
11:07 am
Kyle–The first rule of blogmeistering is to come up with a controversial column title to generate a lot of interest. We’re never gonna make it here with only conservative bloggers. Preaching to the choir is boring. No offense, but this 400 toll column is putting even me to sleep.
In order to help you out, then, I’ve come up with a few possible topics:
“Who’s a bigger jerk–Pelosi or Obama??”
“Who was a bigger influence on Obama–Bill Ayres or Jeremiah Wright??”
“Are Hawaiian Birth Certificates Worht the Paper They’re Printed On??”
“The Global Warming Hoax”
@@
July 20th, 2012
11:12 am
I would like to correct something I said awhile back.
Turns out SPLOST tax HAS built a humongous rec center for our children. A neighbor called wanting to know what it was. “A new rec center,” I told her. She was NOT pleased.
Her response? “We’re building a rec center while drastically cutting our education budget?”
“That’s how it works,” I told her. “Back when our schools were failing, everybody thought rec centers were the answer to our problems…if the money is collected for rec centers, they have to build rec centers.”
Now our students can hang out at rec centers instead of school.
How kool is that?
@@
July 20th, 2012
11:13 am
’scuse me. Our CLAYTON COUNTY SPLOST.
@@
July 20th, 2012
11:18 am
The rec centers were Wole Ralph’s door into our BoC. I’m getting robo calls telling me what a “blessing” he’s been for Clayton County and would I vote to continue this blessing.
NOPE!
@@
July 20th, 2012
11:21 am
Is this a scratch & sniff blog? Whenever I come in, everybody leaves. I use Dove deodorant. Should I change?
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
July 20th, 2012
11:29 am
Kyle has fresh sheets upstairs, @@
zeke
July 20th, 2012
11:32 am
VOTE NO, UNLESS ALL THE MARTA EXPANSION PROJECTS ARE DELETED!! AND, YES, ALL THE RAIL AND BUS PROJECTS ARE EXPANSION OF MARTA TO COUNTIES AND CITIES THAT DO NOT WANT THEM!!!!!
iggy
July 20th, 2012
11:56 am
Zeke has it correct. And @@, you smell marvelous.
Married with (School) Children
July 20th, 2012
12:50 pm
While that “Traffic is Strangling Atlanta” commercial played on my television this morning, it occurred to me that the commercial is an incredible gift to the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce.
That commercial will help Charlotte even if the TSPLOT passes — all the company recruiters up in Charlotte have to say is sure, Atlanta passed a penny sales tax, but how much of a difference can a penny make?
Chris Sanchez
July 20th, 2012
3:11 pm
Folks in the metro Atlanta area are not against paying for projects that improve traffic congestion. What we are against is handing over $7 Billion to politicians for a plan that has no hope of relieving congestion, half of which is not intended to relieve congestion in the first place. I imagine that much money could really impact our traffic woes if it were all spent to do so.
If economic development is an issue that needs funding, then propose it and lets have that debate. Don’t try to hide it in this TSPLOST nonsense. The lack of trust in our politicians, underscored by Gov. Purdue extending the GA 400 toll, is their own fault. Now Gov. Deal decides that seventeen months from now the GA 400 toll will go away to try and get some support for TSPLOST. Frankly it is insulting! Had he been bold and done so quickly after taking office he may have had some influence on this and other issues. However, the voters see Deal’s actions for what they are.
bu2
July 20th, 2012
7:47 pm
Well said Chris.
I think Deal’s actions reinforce any distrust. They aren’t going to get any new votes.
catlady
July 22nd, 2012
3:55 pm
So, if Tsplost fails, will Nate the Great put the tolls back on 400?
Fool me once, shame on me, etc.
catlady
July 22nd, 2012
4:06 pm
Enter your comments here
lovetravel
July 23rd, 2012
12:34 pm
I don’t know nothing about where exactly the money going and how it help the State of Georgia. I am only looking at it as it help BUT everyone complain about a little coin the spare but they aren’t complain about how much people make over what they make. All in all I am not going to say anything else since everyone is only worry about “MONEY” it all about money in the first place. We need to relax and think and try to help each other and every counties too. I hope this will help everyone start to make a wake up call to realize not to get upset over a little coin than a big coin
JMatt
July 26th, 2012
10:07 am
The cat is already out the bag and the damage was done when Purdue decided to extend the toll. This is a political move to save next week vote. I’m very apprehensive about the 7/31 referendum. First is the mistrust of government to keep their word as illustrated with the 400 situation. While Deal is eliminating the toll next year, the move to do this is very suspect and not genuine which makes things even worse. Second, I don’t see how many of the projects on the referendum list solves traffic problems. They’re just wasted money being spent.
There are some great projects that are on the list but many lousy ones as well. Based the two factors above, I’m still on the fence about this initiative. I’m leaning towards no though.