LAWRENCEVILLE, GA (CBS ATLANTA) -
With six weeks remaining until voters decide whether to approve a ten year, one cent sales tax for transportation projects, leaders in Gwinnett County said two projects are at the center of what they hope to see accomplished. Relief on Highway 316, and an extension to Sugarloaf Parkway, would affect tens of thousands of people each day.
But the TEA Party Patriots argued the price won't be worth it.
"We don't trust our elected officials to spend our tax dollars wisely," said Debbie Dooley with the TEA Party. "Why should we give them more? A lot of the projects are already being worked on by the DOT."
All of the projects in Gwinnett County were, in fact, already on the local long-term list. However, without an approval of the penny tax, many of those projects might not be complete until 2040. Chuck Warbington with the Gwinnett Village Community Improvement District said that's too long to wait.
"I think from an overall standpoint it's going to be positive for the region," Warbington said. "Is it perfect? No. Is it fair? I think it's going to be fair to all who spend money in the region."
"It's unconstitutional," Dooley said. "Gwinnett County can vote it down and say no to the tax, but if it passes the collective vote of the region, we're forced to pay. It's taxation without representation."
She said they are prepared to take legal action if the referendum passes to delay its implementation.
Norcross Mayor Bucky Johnson said the July 31 vote is going to be monumental, no matter if the referendum passes or fails.
"In my opinion, this is the biggest thing to happen to Atlanta in my lifetime," said Johnson, who served on the regional roundtable that decided which projects would make the list.
There are already two overpass additions in the works for Highway 316, to replace intersections where there are currently traffic lights. The project list on the Transit Investment Act calls for three more overpasses, at Hi Hope Road and Cedars Road, Harbins Road and US Highway 29. The overpasses, along with on/off ramps, would allow cars to continue traveling at 60 mph through areas where they currently have to stop and wait at red lights. The cost of adding overpasses at all three intersections would equal nearly $136 million.
That's not even half of what it will take to extend Sugarloaf Parkway to Buford. The estimated cost for that project is $296 million, and would add 8 1/2 miles from the area near Briscoe Field at Highway 316, north to the city limit of Buford.
"You have to think more regionally in terms of how you plan and how you progress as a region," said Johnson, who added that the two main Gwinnett County projects affect a huge portion of the county's regularly commuting population.
Harris Blackwood, the Director of the Governor's Office of Highway Safety, said the projects mean equally as much to safety as they do to helping people spend less time in traffic.
"Any place you have a major highway that has stop signs on it, it adds some degree of uncertainty about it," Blackwood said.
"We've had tremendous growth, and no growth in infrastructure type taxes," Johnson said. "I understand the issue with taxes, but someone has to pay for this, and everybody wants someone else to pay for it."
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