Late this morning the Georgia Department of Transportation announced that the Northwest Corridor Express Lanes have opened.
As we noted earlier this week, through Monday morning the reversible toll lanes along I-75 and I-575 in Cobb and Cherokee will be open only in the southbound direction.
They’ll be made available for northbound traffic for the first time for the Monday afternoon rush hour. Here are the access points that will be available for East Cobb commuters:
I-285 at Akers Mill Road
I-75 at Terrell Mill Road
I-75 at Roswell Road
I-575 at Shallowford Road
Using any part of the 29.2-mile stretch of managed lanes is free until Sept. 22, but you have to have a Peach Pass to use them. Here’s how to sign up(the initial fee is $20) and get more information about the dynamic pricing system.
If you want to purchase a Peach Pass in person, they are being sold at the Georgia Department of Driver Services, 3690 Old Highway 41, in Kennesaw. The hours are Tuesday-Friday from 7:30 a.m to 6:30 p.m. and on Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to noon.
The minimum charge to travel on the Northwest Corridor Express Lanes is 10 cents a mile from 5 a.m. to midnight. Overnight, from midnight to 5 a.m., the cost is a flat 50 cents per trip.
Georgia DOT estimates that more than 220,000 vehicles use I-75 and I-575 in Cobb and Cherokee every day.
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Roswell Road will be one of the access points for East Cobb commuters using the Northwest Corridor Express Lanes, which open Saturday. (ECN file photo)
At long last (and especially for those of you who have been checking here recently), thre is a date for the opening of the Northwest Corridor Lanes along I-75 and I-575:
It’s this coming Saturday, Sept. 8, and the first two weeks are free, but only for motorists who sign up for a Peach Pass (more info here, including a new pricing structure that just went into effect).
Here’s what we posted earlier this summer, when Georgia DOT’s Stephen Lively briefed members of the East Cobb Civic Association about the reversible toll lanes.
From mid-morning Saturday through the Monday morning rush hour, access to the managed lanes will be for southbound traffic only.
Around mid-afternoon Monday, the lanes will be switched to accept northbound traffic for the p.m. rush hour.
The minimum charge is 10 cents a mile for all the managed lanes in the state, including the Northwest Corridor Lanes, from 5 a.m. to midnight.
Overnight, from midnight to 5 a.m., the cost is a flat 50 cents per trip.
The amount of a per-trip fee will be determined according to “dynamic pricing,” which is based on demand. The cost is higher with heavier traffic and drops when traffic decreases.
To get an idea how this works, you can check the real-time toll rates for the existing express lanes on I-85 in Gwinnett and DeKalb and on I-75 in Henry County.
The Northwest Corridor Lanes will have several access points for East Cobb commuters:
I-285 at Akers Mill Road
I-75 at Terrell Mill Road
I-75 at Roswell Road
I-575 at Shallowford Road
Georgia DOT projected a late-summer opening, but it was delayed due to repairs to collapsing retaining walls that were detected along I-75 near Windy Hill Road.
Gov. Nathan Deal will take part in a ribbon-cutting ceremony next Thursday at 10 a.m. near SunTrust Park, in Braves Lot 29 at Circle 75 Parkway.
The Northwest Corridor Lanes, which cover nearly 30 miles, is the most expensive construction project in Georgia DOT history, at around $834 million.
It will eventually be eclipsed by the forthcoming I-285 Express Lanes, including a $4.2 billion price tag for a section stretching between I-85 and I-75 north.
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An interchange at Roswell Road and I-75 will be one of several entry and exit points for East Cobb motorists using the Northwest Corridor lanes. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)
The Northwest Corridor Project express lanes designed to relieve traffic on I-75 and I-575 in Cobb and Cherokee counties are anticipated to be fully operational by the Labor Day weekend.
But now’s a good time to purchase the required passes for driving along the nearly 30 miles of managed lanes, which are nearly complete after more than five years of planning and construction.
That’s the message from Steven Lively, the Georgia Department of Transportation’s program delivery manager for major projects.
Earlier this week, he provided an update to the East Cobb Civic Association. While the general expected opening of the lanes is still “late summer,” he said “we hope to have traffic in the system by Labor Day.”
Resurfacing I-75 along the Express Lanes route, and on I-285 between the Chattahoochee River and Cobb Parkway is expected to be done by Aug. 31, he said.
The “Peach Pass” is currently being used on other managed lane and toll routes in Georgia, and will soon be expanded to the Northwest Corridor Project.
The pass is an electronic transponder device with an adhesive that sticks to a windshield or front bumper. Motorists purchase the passes in advance of their first time using the lanes, and then refill their accounts with money, depending on how much they use the lanes.
“We encourage people to use the system when it benefits them,” Lively said. “It may not be an everyday option but you get to make a choice.”
Motorists can apply online here to set up an account (for an initial fee of $20), and passes will be mailed. There’s also a mobile app for the Peach Pass.
The costs will be based on what’s called “dynamic pricing,” which rise as demand increases and is reduced during off-peak hours, Lively said.
Fines will apply to motorists who enter the lanes without a Peach Pass, or with one that’s expired, or if an account has insufficient funds, as well as for driving a vehicle that’s unregistered for Peach Pass use (more on fines here).
The finishing touches of the project, including testing of electronic signs and other devices at the interchanges, are underway now, according to Lively, who said the project is around 95 percent complete.
The $834 million project—the biggest in state transportation history—stretches in two lanes along I-75 from Akers Mill Road to Hickory Grove Road in Acworth. Three of the six interchanges will be easily accessible to East Cobb motorists: Akers Mill Road, Terrell Mill Road and Roswell Road.
The Express Lanes also include a spur at the I-75 junction that then goes up I-575 in a single lane to Sixes Road near Canton. Three sets of “slip ramps” include a northbound exit and a southbound entrance at Shallowford Road in Northeast Cobb.
The managed lanes will be for southbound traffic in the morning, and northbound traffic in the afternoon rush hour. Lively said the express lanes will be closed for three hours in between to clear vehicles and reverse the direction of the traffic flow.
Georgia DOT estimates that the Express Lanes can ultimately save motorists up to 43 minutes on their daily commute time, depending on how long their travel is on that route, and that drivers in the general lanes could have their traffic time reduced by as much as 16 minutes.
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