Toll Lanes Discussed at VBA Meeting

The Vinings Business Association met for their monthly meeting on Tuesday and heard from Cobb Commission Chairman Tim Lee. Lee took time to talk about what he feels is a bright future for Cobb County. The members and guests of the VBA, however, were eager to discuss the proposed toll lanes between Cherokee County and Cobb.

During the well attended meeting, which took place at , Lee chose to again give his , which he had previously given at the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce’s First Monday Breakfast on Jan. 9.

Highlights Lee pointed out included that, when compared to other metro Atlanta counties of comparable size, Cobb has the lowest operating and capital budget, the lowest sales tax (along with Gwinnett), the lowest millage rate and the fewest number of full-time government employees.

Additionally, Lee discussed the fact that both the Cobb County Government and Cobb County Water System retained their AAA rating from the three major bond rating houses, despite 2011 being an economically difficult year. Tough decisions had to be made in 2011, however, to achieve that — including just over $15-million in one-time cuts to take care of much needed maintenance and repair of infrastructure and ensure a balanced budget.

“I believe it is very important that you be made aware just how close we came to having a very bad year, rather than a good, if tough, year,” he said.

Looking forward to 2012 and the beyond, Lee said that he is confident in Cobb’s ability to continue operating at the highest level. Even with a slight millage rate increase this year, Lee said that the size of Cobb County government has still been decreased overall from 2011.

“Cobb county is ready for anything 2012 may throw at it,” Lee said. “In 2011 we took the necessary steps to ensure that Cobb’s quality of life, financial stability, job growth and service are next to none. Cobb County is and will continue to be the best place to live, work, play and earn a world class education.”

While Lee chose to focus on the positives about Cobb going forward, when given a chance to ask him questions at the end of his presentation those in attendance simply wanted answers to their traffic concerns — most notably the proposed toll lanes between Cherokee and Cobb.

When first pressed about the proposed light rail, Lee said that the new focus is bus rapid transit from Acworth to Atlanta with the potential to be upgraded to light rail at some point.

“I doubt that I’ll see it in my career as a politician,” Lee said of the light rail.

Discussion of the light rail led to questions about the , which have been proposed as toll lanes. The two lanes are currently scheduled by the Georgia Department of Transportation and will run south in the morning and north in the afternoon, Lee said. Entrance and exit points will only be at non-traditional designations at the top and bottom of the lanes.

One person in attendance expressed concern over the potential toll road causing the same problems and outcry from the public as the new “hot lanes” on I-85.

What makes this project different, Lee explained, is the fact that it is a completely separate corridor. Additionally, the toll will not be used to pay back the cost of building it, but is intended to manage the number of drivers actually using the road to control traffic flow. Lee explained that this helps to ensure that those using the corridor will be able to get from point A to point B in a certain amount of time.

According to Lee, 70-percent of Cherokee’s work-force goes through Cobb to get to their job, with 20-percent of those actually working in Cobb.