DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A group of neighbors in DeKalb County are working to pump the brakes on a major multi-lane expansion along Interstate 285.
The expansion would add toll lanes, with the goal of easing traffic congestion, but some of the residents who live nearby say it could make them lose their homes to make room for a roadway development.
Channel 2’s Tom Regan was at the Lindmoor Wood neighborhood near I-285 in DeKalb County, where residents told him people who live there are worried about more noise, and pollution.
The people who would be most affected by the expansion are those whose properties back up to the highway barrier walls, like the homes in Lindmoor Wood.
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The neighbors living there told Regan they were worried the state would acquire their homes to clear the way for expanding the highway.
“There’s a lot of issues with it. It doesn’t seem entirely plausible right now,” Lucas Paskaline, a resident, said.
Paskaline and his mother live in a house that backs up to the sound barrier wall on I-285.
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They told Channel 2 Action News they don’t know yet if their home will be targeted for acquisition by the Georgia Department of Transportation, but he thinks it might be even worse if they don’t take it and build toll lanes nearby.
“The wall on the highway would be a lot closer and we would get a lot of noise,” Paskaline said.
Many people living in the neighborhood, and others near that section of I-285, are strongly opposing GDOT’s plan, which would construct two barrier-separated express lanes in each direction on a thirteen mile stretch between Henderson Road and Interstate 20.
The massive project is funded by private developers, who would collect the toll fees.
“This is something that is going to benefit private investors and affect our neighborhood and home values,” Nick Likos told Regan.
Likos and his wife moved to their home in the area just a few months ago. While they don’t live close to I-285, they say the expansion lanes would be devastating to their community.
“There’s going to be a lot of pollution issues, we’re not just talking about noise pollution, but actual air pollution,” Likos said.
Another neighbor, Marguerite Day, told Channel 2 Action News that she was also worried about what would happen to their homes and the spaces they’ve invested their time and funds into, sometimes for years.
“Our neighbors [are] like, ‘what’s going to happen to our homes?’” Day said. “They have backyards they have invested in, this is like their life dream and all of a sudden it’s going to be taken away from them.”
GDOT said it pays fair market value for homes acquired for road projects.
The department is continuing to hold public hearings for people to weigh in on the lane expansion project.
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