Georgia 400 toll lanes project being delayed

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Georgia 400

Credit: Capitol Beat News Service

ATLANTA — A plan to add toll lanes along Georgia 400 in Fulton and Forsyth counties is being delayed by about four months after one of three contractor finalists dropped out of consideration.

Express 400 Partners, one of three roadbuilding consortiums the Georgia Department of Transportation had short-listed for the project, withdrew from the selection process last month, Meg Pirkle, the DOT’s chief engineer, told members of the State Transportation Board Wednesday.

That leaves two consortiums — Georgia Express Link Partners and SR 400 Peach Partners — still vying for the work, Pirkle said.

“We have two strong teams, and we have confidence that we will have a very competitive procurement,” she said.. 

The project calls for the addition of two toll lanes in each direction along Georgia 400 from the North Springs MARTA station north to McGinnis Ferry Road and one toll lane in each direction from there north to McFarland Parkway.

Also, MARTA plans to run a bus-rapid transit line using the insides of the toll lanes from the North Springs station north to a park-and-ride lot on Windward Parkway. Transit stations are planned for Holcomb Bridge Road and the North Point Mall.

The DOT budgeted $1.7 billion for the project, which prompted the agency to restart the procurement process last August after the only qualifying team of contractors at the time put in a bid for a significantly larger amount. 

Pirkle said the DOT plans to announced an “apparent best value” bid in the second quarter of next year.

This story comes to GPB from a reporting partnership with Capitol Beat News Service.