It’s official. The Peach Pass Press announced via email on Sunday, May 19, that the toll on Georgia 400 will be ending the weekend before Thanksgiving this fall. From the e-mail:

“In July 2012, Gov. Nathan Deal announced that the state would pay off its bond debt and end tolls on GA 400 by December 2013. The ending date for GA 400 tolls has been set for Thursday, Nov. 21, weather permitting. This date was selected to lessen the impact on Thanksgiving holiday travel. In the case of inclement weather, the ending date will be moved to Nov. 22 or 23. Plans for the demolition of the toll booths and other aspects of the project are still being finalized. However, preliminary plans call for all GA 400 traffic to shift into three general purpose lanes where motorists currently use the electronic tolling lanes. Construction activities will likely begin in October 2013 to make preparations for the traffic shift in November.

“Once traffic is shifted, there is no heavy demolition work expected to take place during the winter holidays. Toll booth demolition is expected to be completed between January 2014 and the following May. Once the cash booths and the structure overhead are removed, traffic will shift over so that the rest of the toll plaza can be taken down. Once that happens, traffic will shift back over and remain there permanently. Top priorities for the project are: safety, traffic maintenance and communications.

More details about the GA 400 demolition project will be available later this spring in future issues of the Peach Pass Press enewsletter, and at www.georgiatolls.com and www.PeachPass.com.”