This audio is automatically generated. Please let us know if you have any comments.
A $4.6 billion Georgia Expressway is moving forward after the State Board of Transportation approved SR 400 Peach Partners on Aug. 15 for the public-private partnership project. The consortium of highway engineering and construction companies will design, build, partially finance, operate and maintain the express lanes of State Route 400 for 50 years, with oversight from the Georgia DOT and the State Highway and Highway Authority .
SR 400 Peach Partners, the apparent best value proposition, is comprised of Coral Gables, Florida-based ACS Infrastructure; Meridiam, an investment manager based in Paris; Parsons of Chantilly, Virginia; and Dragados, Acciona Concesiones and Acciona Construction, all based in Madrid.
They beat another team, Georgia Express Link Partnersformed by Tikehau Star Infra of Roslyn Heights, New York; Amsterdam-based Arcadis; and Ferrovial Construcció and its subsidiary Cintra, both from Madrid.
The project will add new express lanes in both directions along a roughly 16-mile section of Georgia 400 from the North Springs MARTA station in Fulton County to about a mile north of McFarland Parkway in Forsyth County, according to the project’s website. The lanes will have tolls that vary based on traffic levels to allow drivers to avoid congestion, and a MARTA bus rapid transit line is also planned to run along the toll-free corridor.
It is part of a larger construction effort aimed at easing congestion at the SR 400 and I-285 interchange, and will connect directly to the proposed I-285 Top End East. The new lanes will be part of Georgia’s express lane network.
A combination of private, state, federal and local dollars will fund the project, according to project documents. The private partner has committed to making a concession payment to the state of $4.05 billion and will deliver the project through a combination of financing methods.
Construction is expected to begin by the end of 2025, according to a project fact sheet, and the lanes are scheduled to begin operating in 2031.
Over the next year before construction begins, the team will focus on completing final conceptual designs, environmental reassessments, obtaining necessary project financing and permitting, according to the project’s website.
