FULTON COUNTY, GA (CBS ATLANTA) -
A group of anti-toll activists called on Gov. Nathan Deal to honor his campaign pledge to get rid of the tolls on GA-400.
Voter GA said the tolls paid for the highway years ago and that there is no need keep them.
Garland Favorito, who heads Voter GA, hand delivered what he said were hundreds of letters to Deal's office, demanding the governor eliminate the tolls.
State officials in the early 1990s promised they would remove the 50-cent toll once the highway was paid for. That was supposed to happen last year, but the state Road and Tollway Authority and the Georgia Department of Transportation voted to extend the toll to 2020. The agencies said they needed the additional money to pay for a $21-million interchange connecting GA-400 to Interstate-85.
"That's really unfair to the people in the city of Atlanta who are trying to get to their jobs in north Fulton (County)," Favorito said.
In 2010, then-candidate Deal promised to abolish the toll. Voter GA asked the governor to do what he had promised.
"The problem is you're taking money from some individuals and spreading it to other individuals who have no reason to receive the money to begin with," Favorito said.
Drivers, like Greg Damico, said the toll can be too heavy a price to pay during tough economic times.
"Even the smallest increases in folks' budget, it hurts them," Damico said. "I say get rid of the toll."
Jessica Dodds, who pays the tolls twice each day, said she does not mind paying the fare as long as the money is spent on keeping the highway in good repair.
"It does bring in revenue. If they're doing something good with it, keep it. I don't have a huge problem with it so keep it," Dodds said.
CBS Atlanta called Deal's office to ask if he would try to get rid of the toll as he had promised in his campaign. No one had responded by the time this article was written.
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