Toll Lane Opposition Groups Band Together

By Martha Dalton

Atlanta – Three groups that oppose the new toll lanes on I-85 have formed a coalition, called "Stolen Lanes." They're now preparing for a town hall meeting on November 17th. WABE's Martha Dalton has more.

The three groups in the coalition are "Stop Peach Pass," "Stop the hot lane dot com," and "Against Peach Pass." Next week's town hall will be the second one of its kind. But state transportation officials say they won't attend. Chris Haley, founder of Stop Peach Pass, says that's disappointing:

"At the first town hall, the public did not really get an effective chance to interact with those officials and ask the questions they want to know. We're giving a chance to do that in this second town hall meeting."

Officials with the State Road and Tollway Authority have said questions and answers from the last town hall weren't accurately conveyed through the media. Spokesperson Malika Wilkins says they'll participate but not in person:

"We welcome the opportunity to review and/or respond to any information and suggestions captured from that meeting. We're also working on providing some responses to some questions from the last meeting that was held."

Haley says the coalition will post a list of questions about the lanes and the authority's answers on their new website.