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PERIMETER BUSINESS
PCIDs promise millions to jump start l-285/Ga. 400 interchange
By Joe Earle and Melissa Weinman
Perimeter business owners have
agreed to pony up $10.5 million to try
to jump start plans to fix the 1-285/
Ga. 400 interchange.
"We're saying 1-285 and Ga. 400 is
so critical to us that we want to put
$10 million on the table," said Donna
Mahaffey, chief of staff for the Perim
eter Community Improvement Dis
tricts, which will provide the money.
Gov. Nathan Deal made the for
mal announcement May 22 that the
PCIDs had agreed to raise more than
$10 million for work on the project,
which Deal said was "crucial to one
of the metro region's greatest eco
nomic engines."
But $10.5 million is only a tiny por
tion of the money required to rebuild
the intersection, which state officials
say is among the busiest and most
clogged interchanges in the state. Ma
haffey called the PCIDs appropria
tion "a statement of collaborative in
terest and a statement of focus" on
the project.
A proposed regional transporta
tion sales tax was slated to raise $450
million for the I-285/Ga. 400 inter
change as part of the $8 billion plus
that would have been collected for
projects in a 10-country area. But that
tax was soundly defeated by metro
Atlanta voters.
Since the regional sales tax defeat,
political and business leaders have
been looking for other ways to finance
high-priced road projects. Deal praised
the partnership between the state and
the PCID as a sign of the future.
"Due to limited resources, this
model of partnership gives us the
tools we need to facilitate major
transportation projects," he said.
The PCIDs are districts of business
owners clustered around the Perim
eter. The districts lie in portions of
Fulton and DeKalb counties. Within
the districts, businesses can tax them
selves for transportation improve
ments. In the past, the PCIDs have
helped finance the half-diamond in
terchange at Hammond Drive and
Ga. 400, and the "diverging dia
mond" interchange at Ashford-Dun-
woody and 1-285.
PCIDs' president and CEO now
calls improvements to 1-285 and Ga.
400 "the No. 1 priority for the Perim
eter CIDs."
The PCIDs' board agreed to is
sue bonds to raise $10 million to be
used on the project, and appropri
ate an additional $500,000 this year
for the project, Mahaffey said. In fu
ture years, the board may consider
additional appropriations if they are
Improvements to
the l-285/Ga. 400
interchange have
been called “the
No. 1 priority for
Perimeter CIDs.”
A sales tax, which
would have raised
$450 million for the
interchange, was
soundly defeated
by metro Atlanta
voters in 2012. Now
Perimeter business
owners have agreed
to bring $10.5
million to the table
to jump start the
improvement plans.
SOURCE: PCID
needed, she said.
"It's really very general at this
point," Mahaffey said, "except to say,
we are at the table with these funds."
Money will be provided to the
Georgia Department of Transporta
tion, which is developing plans for
rebuilding the intersection and will
be able to use the PCIDs' cash to fill
a variety of needs to keep the project
moving, officials said.
"I'm sure GDOT is going through
a number of different scenarios as to
how they will handle this project,"
Mahaffey said.
The board of the Atlanta Region
al Commission also has voted to in
clude $2 million this year in the Metro
Atlanta Transportation Improvement
Plan to continue engineering project
development for the interchange.
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