Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue will not authorize the sale of $822 million in bonds to finance statewide transportation projects, The Telegraph reported. Instead, he will go after a smaller bond sale of approximately $400 million, putting projects like the commuter rail to Macon and the Fall Line Freeway's Eisenhower Parkway extension in jeopardy.
The $822 million bond package was a key part of former Gov. Roy Barnes' plans for upgrading Georgia's transportation system. The sale of those bonds would mark the first step in an $8 billion plan.
Transportation activists, fearing the money would be used to finance construction of the controversial Northern Arc toll road in the Atlanta suburbs, sued to have the $822 million bond sale blocked. It's been tied up in the Supreme Court since the fall of 2002.
Perdue, however, appears ready to make any court action obsolete. He indicated during his campaign for governor that he had reservations about the way the Barnes transportation plan was structured. Collateral for the bonds was to be based on future federal revenue that would be received by the state DOT.
