Fulton Commissioner Wants GA 400 Toll Gone
Pitts Proposes Resolution To Eliminate Toll
POSTED: 6:49 pm EDT September 28,
2009
UPDATED: 10:33 am EDT September 29,
2009
ATLANTA -- Whether you like it or not, you're required to pay a toll if you travel on Georgia 400. However, if Fulton County Commissioner Robb Pitts gets his way you could get a free ride. Pitts proposed a resolution calling for an end to the toll in two years when the bond agreement on the road expires."A very specific promise was made to the voters and taxpayers that once sufficient revenue was available that it would stop," said Pitts.CBS Atlanta News first reported last month that the state has roughly $15 million above and beyond what is owed for construction of the road. Commissioner Pitts believes that's more than enough money to eliminate the toll. He also hopes his resolution will get the attention of the State Road and Tollway Authority. However, some drivers fear that the resolution is not enough to eliminate the toll."I think more needs to be done. I think the citizenship needs to get behind that and demand that they cancel this agreement," said GA 400 driver Stanley Johnson."I think the resolution is a first step, but I absolutely think it's going to take more than just one man coming up with a resolution. It's going to take a collection of the people, said GA 400 driver Dawn Nichols.Not all drivers are in favor of removing the toll. John Hayes doesn't have a problem with paying the 50 cents, but he does have a problem with Commissioner Pitts' intentions."It's a political move if he'd want to take it down," said GA 400 driver John Hayes. So did politics play a role? CBS Atlanta News asked Commissioner Pitts the tough question about it."I don't know what the political move would be. I don't have a political agenda. I was there when the promise was made, intimately involved when the promise was made and simply trying to remind people what the promise was and now following that through," said Pitts.CBS Atlanta News contacted all five of the State Road and Tollway Authority Board Members and Vice Chairman Trey Childress sent us this response: "We will continue to do our due diligence to ensure that we have considered the current and future implications for Georgia 400. Until we have completed these conversations, it would be premature for me to draw any conclusions."
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