GDOT Holds Hearings on $1B Northwest Corridor Road Bidders

BRADENTON, Fla. – The Georgia Department of Transportation is seeking public comments on three vendors that are vying to build the estimated nearly $1 billion, 30-mile, managed-lane project to relieve gridlock in the Atlanta region.

Public hearings Tuesday and Thursday will provide residents in the affected counties of Cobb and Cherokee summary information about design and building of the so-called Northwest Corridor project.

“We have not opened their price bids yet,” GDOT spokesman David Spear said Tuesday. “We want to complete technical reviews first without possible, subconscious influence of costs.”

GDOT later this month intends to select the proposal offering the overall best value for final contract negotiations.The executive summaries can be viewed online at www.nwcproject.com. Written comments can be submitted by July 19 to NorthwestCorridor@dot.ga.gov.

The Northwest Corridor project calls for new managed lanes to be added along Interstates 75 and 575 in Cobb and Cherokee counties, major commuting arteries northwest of the city. The new lanes will be separated from the existing Interstate, and will be reversible in order to allow only southbound traffic during morning commuting hours and northbound traffic in the evenings.

Drivers will pay a variable-rate toll based on traffic volume to access the lanes, which are expected to open in 2018. The toll rate will be controlled by the state, not the developer.

Funding will come from a combination of state and federal funds, bonds backed by tolls and federal grants, a yet-to-be approved low-interest federal loan, and gap financing from the private partner chosen to design and build the project.

The State Road and Tollway Authority will issue up to $385 million of toll bonds and $125 million of grant anticipation revenue vehicle bonds, or Garvees, for the financing.

GDOT will dedicate up to $536 million from state and federal motor-fuel sales taxes to the project, and is seeking a $270 million TIFIA, or Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act, federal loan.

The firms under consideration for building project are C.W. Matthews Contracting Co. and the Michael Baker Corp.; Georgia Transportation Partners, comprised of Bechtel Infrastructure Corp., Kiewit Infrastructure South Co., Dewberry and Davis LLC and STV Inc.; and Northwest Express Road Builders, comprised of Archer Western Contractors, the Hubbard Group and Parsons Corp.

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Transportation industry Georgia
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