Gwinnett County Atlanta GS gets one response to concession RFP for Reagan Pkwy

Gwinnett County in the northern part of the Atlanta region got one proposal in response to an RFP for a short toll expressway link to I-85. The Ronald Reagan Parkway Extension Project got a proposal - details not yet disclosed - from Skanska.

The project involves project development work to start with or "pre-development" they call it. The exact route is not chosen and a connection to I-85 either one of two existing interchanges or a new one.

Then apparently if that gets to a positive outcome a full concession would be negotiated for the design, financing, construction, management and tolling for the term of a concession.

The Extension is about 5km (3 miles) of 2+2 lane expressway, most of it elevated through wetlands. The existing Ronald Reagan Parkway is an 11km (7.5 mile) long heavily used county expressway that heads west towards I-85 but doesn't quite make it,
The concession project is designed to fill the gap.

Gwinnett County is a growing northern area of Atlanta and now has nearly 1 million population.

Dismal record

The sparse response may be in part a reflection of Atlanta's dismal record with toll projects.

Proposals for GA316, I-75, I-285 and before that a Northern Arc have gone nowhere.

After great fanfare as to their feasibility truck toll lanes were quietly dropped.

GA400, the sole operating toll project in the Atlanta area is highly successful financially but present plans are to give up on it and take off tolls in a few years time.

TOLLROADSnews 2008-08-19