I have a real solution to solve our traffic and transportation issues. We are crippled by poor leadership and bureaucracy in the GA DOT. We will start by tearing down the GA 400 toll booths and eliminating this unfair tax on North Fulton citizens. www.teardownthetoll.com

Traffic and transportation are major inhibitors to business and quality of life in North Fulton. These issues need to be addressed short and long term with proper funding and management. This act will serve our busin

It doesn’t take an engineer to figure out that traffic is terrible in Atlanta, especially north Fulton County. A recent study ranked Atlanta as having the 3rd worst traffic congestion in the entire country, but we already knew that because we have to live in it every day!

The facts about the absolute failure of transportation policy and planning in Georgia are astounding. A recent state audit revealed what the Governor called “Enron like accounting” and $2 billion in accounting fraud at the Georgia Department of Transportation. The situation is so bad there are calls for criminal investigations.

Meanwhile, the DOT Board and political insiders engage in endless petty fighting over who controls what instead of focusing on solutions. Miraculously, they do seem to agree on new tax increases to pour more money into their pit of ineffectiveness.

Now, the State Road and Tollway Authority is planning to convert the HOV lanes on I-85, I-75 and I-575 into toll lanes..

Where is our return on our investment? How can we trust our money is being spent well?

Before we consider new taxes and new tolls, I propose a very simple solution. The state should honor its word on the GA400 toll.

When the state established a toll on GA400 to pay for its expansion, the citizens were promised that the toll would be removed when the road was paid for. Today, the State Road and Tollway Authority have collected $15 million MORE than is needed in GA400 toll revenues. However, there is no plan, no discussion, not one finger being raised to do what the state originally promised and remove the toll.

The residents of north Fulton have paid the heaviest part of this road tax, so we have been on the receiving end of our state breaking its word. Forgive us if we are a bit skeptical when transportation leaders come along and promise grand solutions and new plans. We have heard it all before. We (tax paying citizens) are the shareholders of the Georgia Department of Transportation and it is time for a house cleaning.

It is true that transportation solutions are complicated. I am a strong proponent of building more roads, quality traffic management programs, mass transit, light rail, bike paths, etc. It will take a combination of all of these to solve our traffic gridlock problem. However, the foundation of any effective plan is trust and good management.