This story has been circulating in the media in neighboring counties for almost a month now, but for some reason our elected officials in Bartow County and the cities of Cartersville and Emerson have been quiet, though it potentially involves all of these government entities.

The 411 Connector highway project has dominated local transportation talk for almost three decades and we’re still talking with no dirt having been moved. Many Bartow Countians have pretty much tuned out the 411 Connector and will believe it when it gets built. However, a new highway proposal is being floated that should have local tongues wagging.

How would you like to pull your automobile onto a new Interstate-quality, limited access, multi-lane highway at the Red Top Mountain exit on Interstate 75 and be able to travel to Villa Rica, Carrollton or Newnan, or down to I-75 near Barnesville while completely bypassing Atlanta traffic? If a couple of Paulding County officials have their way, the highway could become a reality.

Anyone who has ever driven from Bartow County to Villa Rica or Carrollton knows it can take forever. Heavy traffic, zigzag roads and multiple traffic lights means there’s no easy way to get there. Imagine making it to Villa Rica in around 30 minutes? How about a taking a trip south toward Newnan or Macon without fear of metro gridlock? Here’s the best part. The new $2 billion roadway would be built entirely with private funds.

Blake Swafford, executive director of the Paulding County Industrial Authority, along with Paulding County Commission Chairman David Austin have been floating the idea for the project with elected officials in other counties along the path of the projected 113-mile highway. The men want these other counties to join with Paulding County in creating a development authority that would be charged with building it.

Under the plan, Bartow County would establish the route in Bartow and would technically own its section of the roadway. However a private entity would build and maintain the highway with funding coming through tolls. They project a 300-foot-wide footprint for the project with a large median, and with lanes being built along the two outer edges. This would allow for additional lanes to be easily added in the future with no need to rebuild entrance and exit ramps and with limited interruptions to traffic. Additionally, the large median could also be used for utility right of way or for mass transit rail.

One selling point used by the road’s supporters is that the deepening of the harbor in Savannah will drastically increase truck freight traffic on Georgia highways. With the new roadway in place, trucking companies would have a fast alternate route to bypass Atlanta congestion.

Even if the regional T-SPLOST transportation sales tax initiatives appearing on ballots next year are approved by voters, Georgia will still be woefully short of funding to adequately address the travel needs of its citizens. Toll roads are one of the few options available to planners as Georgia plays catch-up with highway projects.

As we’ve seen with the 411 Connector, the Alabama Road project, the rerouting of Highway 20 next to Walmart and other area projects that have been on the books for years, a project of the scale of this proposed western parkway would never be built in my lifetime if left up to the state or federal governments. Only a public-private initiative could get this project off the ground quickly.

I’m sure there will be some detractors who will look for every excuse they can find to stop this roadway, but the fact remains that Bartow County’s population, along with that of our neighboring counties, is exploding. We must add additional highway capacity soon.

No doubt this is a bold project and it requires forward thinking leadership to accurately analyze the data and then sell the public on the idea if it has merit. I challenge Bartow County Commissioner Brown and his staff along with officials in Cartersville and Emerson to make us proud we elected them by joining the collaborative process being initiated by our Paulding County neighbors. 

Follow me on Twitter @chuckshiflett and also check out my statewide columns at The Backroom Report.