Atlanta Toll Lanes

The AJC, 10/27/18 page A1 article “Metro Atlanta toll lanes big hit with commuters. Reports that “lane renters” are happy with the time saved and low cost. One “lane renter” is saving 1 hour per day for $3.40 round trip.

In Florida, I took the ‘toll highway’ down from “The Villages” to Orlando and nobody was on it and it took longer than just staying on I-75.  From Orlando I took the “toll highway” to I-95 and had to pass through 5 “toll stops”. I this “delay gauntlet completely discourages trips to the Atlantic Ocean. Florida is known for its toll roads and bugs and many people who like these have moved there.

I remember when Atlanta went through the HOV lane fad until it was ignored to death and replaced by “toll lanes”. I remember the “toll booth” on I-285 that backed up traffic so we could waste gas. I remember when Deal was running for Governor in 2010 and promised to close the toll booth on I-285. He forgot that he would need $2 billion in revenue to pay for the I-285 & GA 400 access twizzle.

I don’t know why government spends all of its money on healthcare and education.  Government used to just be responsible for roads and highways because we all use them. Atlanta Metro wasted 30 years ignoring its road and highway systems. They wanted to grow, but didn’t build the roads and highways that would be needed to grow. So, here we are; we have 5.8 million people living in Atlanta Metro with road and highway systems adequate for 3 million people. The cost of land and lane-miles has quadrupled over the past 30 years. I suspect cronyism and gouging.

In the middle ages, Prince-Bishops would have their soldiers stop boats on the rivers to extort payments in order to get revenue for their Dukedom. Their castles were always located on rivers.  Later in the 1700s, Muslim pirates would stop ships in the Mediterranean to extort payments and steal ships. Now we have Police and Municipal Courts to issue fines to produce revenue for their Dukedom. How little things have changed.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader