The Coastal Regional Commission Regional Transportation Roundtable on Wednesday became the first of the state’s 12 regions to approve a list of infrastructure improvements for next year’s Transportation Investment Act referendum.
Chairman Jimmy Burnsed referred to the group’s unanimous approval of the list as a victory and said he was pleased with the work of the group for developing a regional list of projects that totals $1.2 billion, down from an original total of $4 billion.
Though the project list was finalized after months of deliberation from 10 counties in the region spanning from Screven to Camden, the fate of the list lies in the hands of voters. Passing the list would mean a 1 percent sales tax throughout the region to fund the projects.
“I think we’ve got our work cut out for us,” Burnsed said. “I don’t think it’s an easy sell, but I for one am optimistic that we can make this thing work, and I certainly hope so.”
The vote is set to go before voters in the Coastal Region on the July 31 primary ballots according to Todd Long, director of planning for the Georgia Department of Transportation.
According to GDOT’s website, if the tax is approved next year, the funds would begin flowing in the first quarter of 2013.
Burnsed said the tax is expected to raise about $1.2 billion over the 10-year span, and 75 percent of the region’s proceeds from the tax will be used to fund all projects on the final list.

Read more in the Sept. 10 edition of the News.