Georgia DOT schedules open houses on I-285 toll lanes in three counties around Atlanta

Dave Williams
·2 min read

The Georgia Department of Transportation (DOT) will host four open houses next month on a plan to add toll lanes along the top end of Interstate 285 and along Georgia 400 in Cobb, Fulton, and DeKalb counties.

The project will add two barrier-separated lanes in both directions of the so-called Perimeter Highway between South Atlanta Road and Henderson Road and on Georgia 400 from south of the Glenridge Connector north to the vicinity of the North Springs MARTA station.

I-285 perennially ranks among the most congested stretches of highway in the nation, averaging 250,000 to 300,000 vehicles per day. The toll lanes are aimed at reducing congestion to provide more reliable trip times.

The State Transportation Board voted last month to move forward with the project.

The open houses are part of a public comment period on the project that ends July 29. Here is the schedule for the four open houses:

  • July 8 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. - Spring Hall Event Center, Doraville

  • July 10 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. - Campbell Middle School, Smyrna

  • July 16 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. - Dunwoody City Hall

  • July 18 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. - City Springs, Sandy Springs

The DOT’s project team also will host two live virtual sessions on July 9 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., and on July 17 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Access details will be added on the day of the sessions at the project’s web page at https://i285topendexpresslanes-gdot.hub.arcgis.com.

The DOT also is working with MARTA to add a transit component to the project.

“These are two processes running commensurate with each other and integrated together,” Georgia Commissioner of Transportation Russell McMurry told members of the State Transportation Board Thursday.

MARTA is planning to run bus-rapid transit routes along I-285, with stops at a combination of new station