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Politics & Government

Planned Interchange at Ga. 400 and I-85 Wins Residents' Support

Ramps were 20 years in the making; Most residents happy for prospect of relief from congestion on Buford Higway, Lenox Road and Sidney Marcus Boulevard

Almost 20 years in the making, a new interchange at Ga. 400 and I-85 has gained general support from residents who once were threatening to stop it in court.

“I’m a big supporter,” said Donna Newman. “I work from home and have flexibility to avoid the area, and it takes an act of Congress to get me to go through there during rush hour. This should help.”

Newman has seen her neighborhood streets become choked with traffic. At busy times, just a few cars make it through a traffic light cycle.

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A sign of the turn-about is the relatively small crowd of folks who attended a hearing, Thursday, at Westminster Presbyterian Church, to give their opinions to the Georgia Department of Transportation.

Many who attended the three-hour hearing had opinions similar to Newman, a 20-year resident in the area.

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Fewer than 100 persons were present. That compares to 175 who attended the previous GDOT meeting on the project, in February 2009, according to attendance figures provided by GDOT.

At various points in the past, opposition had been so vehement that some residents considered a legal challenge to halt the project.

The state plans to build two ramps that are to accomplish two goals:

  • Provide an alternative to local streets to vehicles that want to switch from either Ga. 400 south to I-85 north, or from I-85 south to Ga. 400 north;
  • Eliminate these “through” vehicles, which don’t have a need to be on local streets, from congesting three busy roads – Sidney Marcus Boulevard, Buford Highway, and Lenox/Cheshire Bridge roads.

GDOT had proposed such a solution before Ga. 400 was opened, in 1993.

But back then, the local politics were such that the overriding goal for the road's advocates became simply getting it built. 

Residents of influential North Buckhead neighborhoods balked at the prospect of having a highway bisect their community.

Some were especially irked because the sole purpose of the highway seemed to be to ease the commute of residents of North Fulton County heading to offices in Downtown Atlanta or to the Atlanta airport.

Before Ga. 400 opened south of I-285, most of these commuters traveled along I-285 to get on I-75 or I-85 and continue to points south. Those routes were just fine with many residents of North Buckhead.

According to a 2005 report to the State Road and Tollway Authority about the history of toll roads in Georgia:

  • “Under Mayor [Maynard} Jackson’s direction, the city approved a huge office development known as the Atlanta Financial Center located along Peachtree Street near the current location of the Buckhead MARTA station."
  • “The city was convinced that the approval of the huge project in the proposed past of the roadway would end the Ga. 400 project."
  • “GDOT and Atlanta Financial Center officials worked behind the scenes to develop the foundation for hte building in a manner that allowed Ga. 400 to be constructed and the development built.”

State officials say the intersection was not built for reasons that were more practical than political.

“We did consciously decide not to put ramps in there,” said GDOT spokesman David Spear. “The traffic counts at the time did not warrant the expense that would be incurred.

“No one anticipated the population growth that’s occurred north along Ga. 400,” Spear said.

Regardless of the past, the interchange is the future.

The project is to start construction next year on land GDOT already owns. The $40 million construction budget will be paid with tolls collected along Ga. 400, following a vote on that proposal by the board that oversees the state tollway authority.

Area resident Don Hampton said he couldn’t be happier with the outcome – or GDOT’s willingness to work with neighborhood advocates to reach a peaceful conclusion.

“I think it’s very good,” Hampton said. He bought his first home off LaVista Road in 1987 and moved to the area in 1994.

“I’m pleased with the plan for the ramps and I’m particularly glad they’re agreeing to build the trails at the bottom of Lindridge [Drive],” he said. “The neighbors I’ve talked to area pleased about it.”

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