Regional leaders have taken the first whacks at whittling down the wish list of Georgia transportation projects slated for a vote next year, but the revised list is still $59 million more than projected revenue.
Considering the list was nearly $1.5 billion above the revenue at first, local leaders see a lot of progress.
“It’s just a first step at it,” said Whitfield County Commission Chairman Mike Babb. “There’s a little balancing that has to take place.”
In November 2012, Northwest Georgians will vote on a 10-year, 1 percent sales tax to pay for a list of projects that originally ranged from $237 million for highway reconstruction in Floyd County to $800 for handrails on a sidewalk in Menlo.
Babb is a member of the Georgia Department of Transportation’s Round Table Executive Committee for Northwest Georgia, which is charged with deciding which projects make it onto the final list.