Georgia's Major Mobility Investment Program is enhancing road networks with billion-dollar projects like State Route 400 Express Lanes and Interstate 285/I-20 West Interchange. Public-private partnerships aim to tackle congestion issues and cater to growing population and economic needs. Construction to begin from 2025, with completion expected by 2030.
Photo courtesy of the Georgia Department of Transportation
Interchange work proceeds as part of the GDOT Major Mobility Investment Program.
As Georgia's population and economy surge, the need for an enhanced road network has never been greater, and the state's multi-billion-dollar Major Mobility Investment Program (MMIP) is building the infrastructure to meet immediate and future demands.
The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) recently announced its largest MMIP private sector partner selections in state history. The August 2024 State Transportation Board approved proposals for both the $4.6 billion State Route 400 Express Lanes and the $1.2 billion Interstate 285/Interstate 20 West Interchange projects.
GDOT Commissioner Russell R. McMurry spoke at the August board meeting on the groundbreaking nature of the back-to-back billion-dollar MMIP milestone award announcements. The public-private partnership approach, noted the DOT, reduces the public funding needed since the private sector partner will finance the projects. Everyday commuters, freight and public transit all reap the future benefits.
"This is a public-private partnership and the last ‘P,' which stands for partnership, is key to the success of these projects," McMurray said. "That partnership is with both teams through the procurement process. By far, these two teams presented proposals to accomplish far more than we could do with our current funding. I can't say enough of both teams' interest in Georgia to work with Georgia DOT and SRTA to deliver mobility options in the SR 400 and I-285 west corridors."
The I-285/I-20 west interchange is ranked as the sixth-worst truck bottleneck in the country by the American Transportation Research Institute. The project will reconstruct and widen several interstate system-to-system ramps at the I-285/I-20 Interchange west of Atlanta and add a combination of collector-distributor lanes and auxiliary lanes along I-20 west of the interchange and along I-285 north of the interchange.
Photo courtesy of the Georgia Department of Transportation
The private sector partner team, Legacy Infrastructure Contractors, will complete the final design and construction. Legacy consists of C.W. Matthews Contracting Co. Inc. as the lead construction contractor and Infrastructure Consulting Engineering LLC as the lead engineering firm.
The project has been in development since 2018, beginning soon after the MMIP was announced.
GDOT anticipates the interchange construction to start in 2025, with substantial completion expected by 2030.
Meantime, SR 400 Peach Partners was selected for the final design, construction, financing, toll operations and maintenance of the SR 400 Express Lanes in accordance with contractual parameters managed by GDOT and the State Road and Tollway Authority. SR 400 Peach Partners is a three-party consortium between Acciona Concessions, ACS Infrastructure and Meridiam that will rely on a Dragados and Acciona Construction joint venture to carry out the design and construction.
The project will add express lanes in both directions along an approximately 16-mi. section of SR 400 from the North Springs MARTA Station (Exit 5C) in Fulton County to approximately 1 mi. north of McFarland Parkway (Exit 12) in Forsyth County.
As with the existing operational express lanes in Georgia, the new lanes will have variable-priced tolls that give drivers the choice of bypassing congestion and enjoying improved mobility options.
GDOT said its role is to understand how transportation infrastructure can be built and operated to enable the people and freight movement that such growth requires. The State Strategic Transportation Plan first developed in 2009 indicated that adding express lanes to metro Atlanta's highways — including along the SR 400 corridor — is the most effective way to ensure reliable access to major job centers, both for commutes by car and by bus.
"Adding managed lanes to SR 400, the economic engine of north Fulton County, will not only enhance mobility and reduce congestion but also pave the way for even greater economic development," said Brandon Beach, the executive director of True North 400. "I believe this transformative infrastructure investment from Georgia DOT will allow the growing and top-ranked cities of North Fulton to attract employers and create a more prosperous future for the entire region."
GDOT anticipates the SR 400 express lanes' construction to start by 2026. Substantial completion is expected in 2032.
Earlier this year, crews completed the SR 400 Phase 1 Bridge Replacements project, which was pulled forward to support the upcoming express lanes. That resulted in three new overpass bridges at Pitts Road, Roberts Drive and Kimball Bridge Road being constructed in Sandy Springs and Alpharetta. The bridges increase mobility and enhance safety in the area ahead of the express lanes' construction.
As part of the SR 400 bridge replacements, multiuse paths were incorporated for increased pedestrian and bicycle access. The design-build delivery of the structures resulted from the department's collaboration with the cities of Sandy Springs and Alpharetta. Both were partial project funders.
As part of the MMIP, more than 30 bridges are completed or under construction in key corridors such as along the I-285/I-20 interchange on the east side, SR 400, I-85 north of metro Atlanta and in the Savannah metro area along I-16/I-95.
Since being announced in 2016, GDOT has delivered completed MMIP projects.
Open-to-traffic projects include the I-85 Phase 1 and Phase 2 widening improvements as well as several Advanced Improvement Projects (AIP). The AIP is a subset of the larger MMIP initiative to make future construction less cumbersome and more efficient for future express lanes on I-285 and SR 400. Other MMIP projects, such as the I-285/I-20 East Interchange and the I-16/I-95 Improvement Projects, will open within two years. CEG
Irwin Rapoport
A journalist who started his career at a weekly community newspaper, Irwin Rapoport has written about construction and architecture for more than 15 years, as well as a variety of other subjects, such as recycling, environmental issues, business supply chains, property development, pulp and paper, agriculture, solar power and energy, and education. Getting the story right and illustrating the hard work and professionalism that goes into completing road, bridge, and building projects is important to him. A key element of his construction articles is to provide readers with an opportunity to see how general contractors and departments of transportation complete their projects and address challenges so that lessons learned can be shared with a wider audience.
Rapoport has a BA in History and a Minor in Political Science from Concordia University. His hobbies include hiking, birding, cycling, reading, going to concerts and plays, hanging out with friends and family, and architecture. He is keen to one day write an MA thesis on military and economic planning by the Great Powers prior to the start of the First World War.
Read more from Irwin Rapoport here.
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