DOT planning director presents data urging I‑75 South express‑lane expansion to ease freight bottleneck

Janine Miller, the department’s planning director, presented congestion and usage data to the Joint Subcommittee on Transportation Appropriations and argued that the I‑75 South corridor’s current configuration constrains freight and commuter mobility.

Miller told the committee the I‑75 South corridor saw about 5 million trips in the most recent reporting period and has experienced roughly 84% growth in trips since fiscal 2018, when the corridor opened. "People sitting in Atlanta traffic lost 75 hours," she said, using the traffic‑hour metric to emphasize delay. Miller estimated that about 100,000 people each day cannot access the express lane and cited an economic‑cost figure for that unreliability: approximately $15.5 million (presented as a cost of unreliability for the corridor during the month of analysis).

Miller and the commissioner pointed to express lanes as a choice to reduce delay and to expand capacity: the presentation projected that the proposed work to add two barrier‑separated lanes could increase corridor vehicle throughput by roughly 67% in the affected stretch. The director also noted that freight value moving through the corridor is substantial — she cited a daily freight value figure in the hundreds of millions and said that about one‑quarter of the state’s freight value moves through the corridor.

Miller further highlighted system‑level findings: system‑wide express‑lane use increased about 12.6% recently and the American Trucking Association has identified the corridor as a major freight bottleneck. The director closed by urging follow‑up study and by inviting committee members to request additional data; the committee cleared the room for a rules meeting and did not take formal action on the proposal during this session.

Next steps: DOT officials said they will be available for follow‑up briefings to Appropriations or the Transportation Policy Committee to provide additional data and financing scenarios for express‑lane expansion.