Local report of demise of Georgia toll projects exaggerated - new GDOT head reviewing (REVISED)
Posted Fri, 2008-01-11 16:50
Spokesman for the Georgia Department of Transportation, Crystal Paulk-Buchanan tells us her boss the new commissioner of transportation Gena Abraham is certainly reviewing toll projects in the state, along with non-toll projects. But she says a report quoting the Commissioner as saying "she might scrap the whole list of (toll) projects and start over" is flat wrong.
"She didn't say that." (CORRECTION: in the initial report we quoted spokesman Paulk-Buchanan here as saying she was at the meeting. We heard her say this to us, but she has just called to say she was not at the meeting. She says she told us "I was NOT at the meeting." We missed the NOT. She says she was at followup meetings and that she has no quarrel with anything else in our report. Editor 2008-01-16 11:00)
Abraham, on the job for only two months was giving a stock "meet and greet" talk to the Atlanta Regional Council, Buchanan says. Afterwards the reporter got a few words with the Commissioner.
Did she say as quoted by the Atlanta Journal newspaper that the Department's staff "lacks the experience to lead multi-billion dollar negotiations on toll road contracts," we asked?
"No she didn't say that. Look they spelt her name right I'll grant them that," the spokeswoman said of the local rag's report on the sweeping demise of toll projects in the state of Georgia.
"She was asked whether she was scrapping the toll projects, she said no. She said she was reviewing them. She is reviewing all the department's projects. She said everything is on the table. She said she needs to look at the department's resources, financial and in personnel," says GDOT spokesman Buchanan.
Commissioner Abraham said she may need more resources in the department to consider private sector proposals. So far the department's finance people have been working on private sector proposals but they have other tasks as well. The department also has Royal Bank Canada (RBC) as advisers.
The public-private program has been criticized for slowness to nail down projects, but part of that has been due to questioning of the program from outside GDOT - from legislators and the governor Sonny Purdue.
The new commissioner like other state officials is asking whether the public private program should be driven by private initiatives. Abraham has said she thinks the department should be developing a set of project priorities. That suggests it should be soliciting private sector toll proposals for high priority projects rather than just responding to private proposals.
Having solicited proposals, officials say, you cannot just scrap them all and expect the private sector to put time and money into a bunch of new ones.
The department spokesman told us they are $8 billion short of tax funding for needed projects. It follows that they are not going to cavalierly scrap a program that can fill some of the gap.
BACKGROUND: GDOT has had proposals under their public private initiatives law for toll concessions or project development contracts on:
- GA316 from NE of Atlanta to Athens for upgrade of the surface arterial to expressway standard
- I-75 outside the I-285 belt route and the I-575 spur for commuter express lanes and/or truck lanes
- I-285 between I-75 and I-20 west of Atlanta for truck-only toll lanes in the segment called the "western wall"
- I-20 east of I-285
- extension of GA400 with toll lanes outside I-285
The new commissioner
Gena Abraham is something of a sensation. Only 38 she is the first woman commissioner - head of GDOT - and replaces Harold Linnenkohl who recently retired after 40 years with GDOT. Abraham is an engineer previously a professor of construction engineering and management at the Georgia Institute of Technology, who impressed the governor in the position of chief engineer of the state's Building Authority and executive secretary of a state financing and investment commission. She was made head of the State Property Office in early 2006.
NOTE: The full double barreled name of this newspaper is Atlanta Journal Constitution, which makes up for a deficit of reporting capability with a surfeit of pomposity. Imagine as a reporter having to say: "I'm calling from the Gerrrnel Cornstitooshun." Baltimore's HL Mencken was merciless on such southern toffery.
TOLLROADSnews 2008-01-11 NOTE CORRECTION above 2008-01-16 11:00
Spokesman for the Georgia Department of Transportation, Crystal Paulk-Buchanan tells us her boss the new commissioner of transportation Gena Abraham is certainly reviewing toll projects in the state, along with non-toll projects. But she says a report quoting the Commissioner as saying "she might scrap the whole list of (toll) projects and start over" is flat wrong."She didn't say that." (CORRECTION: in the initial report we quoted spokesman Paulk-Buchanan here as saying she was at the meeting. We heard her say this to us, but she has just called to say she was not at the meeting. She says she told us "I was NOT at the meeting." We missed the NOT. She says she was at followup meetings and that she has no quarrel with anything else in our report. Editor 2008-01-16 11:00)
Abraham, on the job for only two months was giving a stock "meet and greet" talk to the Atlanta Regional Council, Buchanan says. Afterwards the reporter got a few words with the Commissioner.
Did she say as quoted by the Atlanta Journal newspaper that the Department's staff "lacks the experience to lead multi-billion dollar negotiations on toll road contracts," we asked?
"No she didn't say that. Look they spelt her name right I'll grant them that," the spokeswoman said of the local rag's report on the sweeping demise of toll projects in the state of Georgia.
"She was asked whether she was scrapping the toll projects, she said no. She said she was reviewing them. She is reviewing all the department's projects. She said everything is on the table. She said she needs to look at the department's resources, financial and in personnel," says GDOT spokesman Buchanan.
Commissioner Abraham said she may need more resources in the department to consider private sector proposals. So far the department's finance people have been working on private sector proposals but they have other tasks as well. The department also has Royal Bank Canada (RBC) as advisers. The public-private program has been criticized for slowness to nail down projects, but part of that has been due to questioning of the program from outside GDOT - from legislators and the governor Sonny Purdue.
The new commissioner like other state officials is asking whether the public private program should be driven by private initiatives. Abraham has said she thinks the department should be developing a set of project priorities. That suggests it should be soliciting private sector toll proposals for high priority projects rather than just responding to private proposals.
Having solicited proposals, officials say, you cannot just scrap them all and expect the private sector to put time and money into a bunch of new ones.
The department spokesman told us they are $8 billion short of tax funding for needed projects. It follows that they are not going to cavalierly scrap a program that can fill some of the gap.
BACKGROUND: GDOT has had proposals under their public private initiatives law for toll concessions or project development contracts on:
- GA316 from NE of Atlanta to Athens for upgrade of the surface arterial to expressway standard
- I-75 outside the I-285 belt route and the I-575 spur for commuter express lanes and/or truck lanes
- I-285 between I-75 and I-20 west of Atlanta for truck-only toll lanes in the segment called the "western wall"
- I-20 east of I-285
- extension of GA400 with toll lanes outside I-285
The new commissioner
Gena Abraham is something of a sensation. Only 38 she is the first woman commissioner - head of GDOT - and replaces Harold Linnenkohl who recently retired after 40 years with GDOT. Abraham is an engineer previously a professor of construction engineering and management at the Georgia Institute of Technology, who impressed the governor in the position of chief engineer of the state's Building Authority and executive secretary of a state financing and investment commission. She was made head of the State Property Office in early 2006.
NOTE: The full double barreled name of this newspaper is Atlanta Journal Constitution, which makes up for a deficit of reporting capability with a surfeit of pomposity. Imagine as a reporter having to say: "I'm calling from the Gerrrnel Cornstitooshun." Baltimore's HL Mencken was merciless on such southern toffery.
TOLLROADSnews 2008-01-11 NOTE CORRECTION above 2008-01-16 11:00