Published: November 03, 2009 01:19 pm      

DOT changing signals on toll road plan

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s Department of Transportation is reported to be planning an announcement about an ambitious project to build toll lanes along Interstates 75 and 575 in Cobb and Cherokee counties, north of Atlanta.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution says the project will be announced this week. But the newspaper reported Tuesday that the DOT will drop its exclusive relationship with the companies that first proposed the projects and will open them up for bidding in an attempt to save money.

The project would add two or three reversible lanes along the existing highway at a cost of about $400 million. Motorists willing to pay a toll could enter them to avoid congestion.