The state some 30 years ago built a four lane regular higher connecting Atlanta to Athens, good idea, it was needed. It was not limited access (except the first 5 miles or so). Now, the state is rebuilding it to make it limited access, costing more than it cost in the first place (by a lot) and it'll take a decade to complete (money). GDOT back when thought having more regular four lanes was better than having half as many miles (or so) of limited access. There are obviously a lot of accidents at at grade crossings because students tend to drive fast.
Their other enormous money sink is rebuilding interchanges and then toll express lanes, although the latter are privately funded, at incredible expense.
Folks around here often complain how they want MARTA expansion (often by folks who never ride MARTA). The money for highways is not usable for MARTA expansion, which in any event is probably cost prohibitive anyway, so MARTA is spending a lot of money rebuilding their stations and replacing the old trains.
It mostly comes down to money, as usual, and there are no quick fix cheap solutions though folks clamor for them. The original MARTA system was barely funded at the time (higher sales tax), the vote was close. I'd hate to think how traffic would be had it failed. In other news, the city redid a major one way road near us to reduce it from four lanes to two, with a new bike lane and landscaping, and the result has been disastrous, who knew?
