Douglas County outlines road projects and advances proposal for dedicated transportation sales tax

Douglas County officials used a District 4 town‑hall highlight session to lay out recent and upcoming road projects and to advance a proposal for a dedicated transportation sales tax to pay for resurfacing and capital improvements.

Solomon Rana, managing director of the county's transportation services division, told attendees his division oversees Connect Douglas, public works and the Department of Transportation and said "our mission statement is to ensure mobility for all Douglas County residents." He said the county maintains roughly 720 miles of roadway, about 92–93 county bridges and about 100 traffic signals.

Rana summarized several recent and planned projects. A Post Road/I‑20 interchange project finished after phased work that he said kept access for about 12,000 daily users; he described the roughly $1.5 million project as delivered in three phases (shoulders, signal, turn lane) to minimize disruption. The county also led a right‑turn lane project at Highway 5 and Douglas Boulevard with city participation (the city contributed about $600,000; total county‑led cost was described as a little north of $1 million). Rana said a GDOT roundabout at Highway 5 and Dorset CHS has cleared the letting process and is expected to break ground this summer.

On maintenance, Rana said resurfacing costs about $500,000 per mile and that the county plans to resurface an estimated 10–15 miles of roadway this year, citing sections of Highway 5, I‑20, US‑78, Thornton Road, Liberty Road, Pool Road and Post Road as recent or planned work. He also listed larger capital projects under way — including Lee Road (contracted value cited at about $21 million, which Rana estimated would represent roughly $50 million in today’s dollars) and Chapel Hill widening and intersection improvements.

Rana noted the county has adopted a Vision Zero goal to eliminate roadway fatalities by 2050; he said that adoption makes the county eligible for federal safety funding aimed at reducing fatal and serious‑injury crashes.

Commissioner Mark Alcarez described why the board is considering a dedicated transportation sales tax, saying the intent is to fund capital improvements without shifting the burden to property taxes and to capture contributions from nonresident users of county infrastructure. Alcarez said the tax would be limited to transportation capital projects.

Officials also described a freight‑cluster planning effort funded largely by the Atlanta Regional Commission (county share about 20%) to develop an action plan addressing truck traffic on residential streets and jurisdictional coordination on roads that cross city and county lines.

The discussion concluded with officials saying the board will place an action item on an upcoming agenda to consider the sales‑tax option and other funding steps. Rana and county staff invited continued public input at follow‑up meetings and hearings.