Senate Democrats Hope Snowstorm Leads to Transportation Solutions

Georgia’s Senate Democrats are critical of the state’s response to the snowstorm. They used the opportunity to renew the call for transportation improvements in metro Atlanta and other parts of the state.

When speaking about the snowstorm Friday, Senate Minority leader Steve Henson said he hopes it serves as a wakeup call to kick start transportation improvements. He says bad traffic in metro Atlanta is not isolated to emergencies and he urged his fellow Senators to find funding solutions.

“Let’s not wait until the next emergency, because the next emergency might be a daily occurrence.

Republican Senate Transportation Committee Chair Steve Gooch says the snowstorm shows the need for more coordination between state and local governments and the Georgia Department of Transportation. And he says even if metro voters had approved the failed transportation tax known as T-SPLOST it wouldn’t have helped last week. But Gooch says lawmakers need to discuss the possibility of another transportation referendum or other revenue sources.

“We’ll definitely engage in a transportation summit or some kind of a series of hearings or meetings to look at transportation funding around the state.”

Gooch says those discussions are likely to start taking place this summer.