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Regional commission takes aim at metro mobility projects By AMBER PERRY amber@appenmedia.com
GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION/PROVIDED
The I-285 Top End Express Lanes project visualization shows elevated roadways over the Chattahoochee River at the Cobb-Fulton border. The project’s express lanes vary between street-level and elevated roadways to allow access throughout the corridor.
GDOT creates virtual voyage through I-285 Express Lanes By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenmedia.com NORTH METRO ATLANTA — Residents now have a virtual glimpse of what their commute through the Perimeter will look like after the state completes the I-285 Top End Express Lanes project. It’s wild. A bird’s-eye view included in a GDOT video shows the elevated express lanes – two on each side of I-285 – crossing over the Chattahoochee River, then above Roswell Road and Northside Drive in Sandy Springs. The project ties into new express lanes at Ga. 400, also elevated above the main thoroughfare. Northbound passengers could almost fist bump the King Building. Southbound express lanes run to Glenridge Connector.
The elevated express lanes are 50 to 60 feet above the general-purpose lanes. David Hannon, with HNTB engineering, is working with GDOT to deliver its Major Mobility Investment Program, designed to address traffic hotspots throughout the state. Hannon said during a virtual Q&A session July 9 that the I-285 Top End Express Lanes project will be constructed in sections. It will run from South Atlanta Road in Cobb County through Fulton County to Henderson Road in DeKalb County, adding two new, barrier-separated express lanes in both directions of I-285 and Ga. 400, alongside the existing generalpurpose lanes.
See GDOT, Page 4
ATLANTA — A study adopted earlier this year imagines a “mobility hub” around the Ga. 400 and McFarland Parkway interchange in Forsyth County. The “McFarland Mobility Hub Feasibility Study” seeks to seamlessly link cycling, walking, transit and cars while positioning the area for future technologies like autonomous vehicles and air taxis. It is the first Livable Centers Initiative for the county since it joined the Atlanta Regional Commission in 2021. The grant program encourages communities in the Atlanta region to develop strategies to curtail vehicle traffic. Eric Bosman, project manager with Kimley-Horn, provided an overview of the work to board members of the Atlanta Regional Commission at their joint meeting with the Transportation and Air Quality Committee July 10.
See MOBILITY, Page 12
AMBER PERRY/APPEN MEDIA
Eric Bosman, project manager with Kimley-Horn, presents an overview of the “McFarland Mobility Hub Feasibility Study” to board members of the Atlanta Regional Commission at their joint meeting with the Transportation and Air Quality Committee July 10.