Cobb Officials Push for Congestion Relief on Northwest Corridor

Chairman , Kennesaw Mayor Mark Mathews, State Senators Chip Rogers and Lindsey Tippins, and State Representative Earl Earhart want to alter the by reducing funding for transit services and putting funding toward the managed reversible lanes on the county’s North/South interstate (also known as the Northwest Corridor I-75/575 P3 initiative).

Project TIA-CO-035 calls for enhanced transit services from North to the MARTA Arts Center Station and is the most expensive project on Cobb’s list at $689 million. It was originally the leading project in Cobb’s effort to combat growing traffic congestion along I-75 and I-575.

Is the managed reversible lanes project for the county’s Northwest Corridor I-75/575 the most important for our future? Is there a better use for transit funding?

“When Cobb County went out into the community to determine which projects were the most important for our future, the I-75/575 P3 project was a done deal,” Lee said in a press release. “We would never have focused on the transit piece if we had known that the I-75/575 project was in jeopardy. The suspension of the I-75/575 project by the state is a substantial and material change caused by the state after the project list process ended. The state should afford us the opportunity to fix that in this list."

In October, Cobb’s list of 15 projects . In December the state Department of Transportation's board determined that the concessionaire approach was not in the state’s best interest so they withdrew funding for the P3, which would have added capacity along I-75/575 through Cobb and into Cherokee County.

“By combining the scope of the P3 and TIA initiatives we have the rare opportunity to relatively quickly alleviate our current massive traffic congestion on the 75/575 corridor in Cobb, Cherokee and Bartow counties and simultaneously expand future capacity on these major arteries to encourage economic growth while providing cost efficient lane access for express commuter bus service from Acworth to Atlanta,” Tippins said in the release.

“The I-75/575 corridor is the single greatest priority for getting traffic moving on the Northside,” Mathews added in the release. “Had it been known at the time that the P3 was doomed, we would have made this corridor the top priority for Cobb County.”

Funding the Transportation Investment Act project list is scheduled to be voted on by the public in July.