Atlanta

GDOT denies request for records showing cost to rebuild I-85

ATLANTA — Nearly a month after work began to rebuild Interstate 85, there is still no word from the Georgia Department of Transportation about how much it will cost taxpayers.

Channel 2 investigative reporter Aaron Diamant filed open-records requests for the construction contracts, but GDOT denied the request.

Diamant said every industry expert he has spoken to over the last few weeks figures the rebuilding will cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars.

TRENDING STORIES:

GDOT knows what that figure will be, but we still don't, because so far GDOT won't say.

"So, what is this going to be, a hundred million? Who knows?" said William Perry with Georgia Ethics Watchdogs. "This is taxpayer dollars, be it federal or not, but this is money that is the people's, and we should be able to see what it is."

Diamant did confirm GDOT has awarded two separate contracts to road builder C.W. Matthews, one for the emergency demolition and site prep work, the other to rebuild the freeway.

Earlier this month, Diamant filed open-records requests with GDOT for copies of those contracts to see what they're worth.

But GDOT denied them, citing a so-called "party agreement" the agency signed with the NTSB that puts "limitations on the dissemination of investigation information."

"Public officials, unfortunately, often use the investigative piece to say that they can't release any documents. In this particular case, it's absurd," Perry told Diamant.

On Monday, an NTSB representative told Diamant he couldn't see how the agreement would have any impact on making the project's cost public.

"This is about public trust, and you can't trust a source that does not let you know, who does not disclose, how much they're spending," Perry said.

We already know the feds released an initial $10 million in emergency funds and GDOT leaders confirmed more than $3 million in incentives for C.W. Matthews if the work got done by certain dates.

"Everybody wants the bridge done, but let's make sure we get it done right, and we find out if that's happening by looking at the contracts," Perry said.

Despite the state holiday Monday, Diamant did eventually reach a GDOT representative who said by text that GDOT recently wrapped up negotiations and plans to release the project's cost at a briefing this week.

Cox Media Group

Most Read