The commissioner of the Georgia Department of Transportation said Friday that acquiring the necessary rights of way to give Romans a straight shot to Interstate 75 via U.S. 411 will begin as soon as GDOT engineers “tweak” the design for the ramps linking the two highways.

Vance Smith, who took over the post in June, spoke to the Exchange Club of Rome at its weekly meeting. Smith was formerly chairman of the House Transportation Committee.

The construction of a direct link from U.S. 411 to I-75 through Bartow County has been on Floyd County’s wish list for about three decades.

Click to see maps of the connector project.

The Greater Rome Chamber of Commerce has long been in support of the connector, saying it will have positive economic impact in Floyd County.

The current connector proposal will come with an estimated $175 million price tag.

Smith also told Exchange Club members that the state will have to find additional funding for transportation projects beyond the current motor vehicle fuel tax. He estimated the revenues from the tax would drop to $850 million from $1.1 billion as drivers look to conserve fuel. But the need to fund transportation projects will increase as Georgia continues to attract population and industry, he said.

In response to a question following his presentation, Smith said that when he was in the House of Representatives he favored a 10-year one-cent tax on motor fuels, which would raise $10 billion to $15 billion for transportation projects.

Smith said the state needs multi-lane “freight corridors” that will lessen the necessity for trucks to go through Atlanta to reach an interstate highway. He advocated dredging the Savannah River so that supertankers from the Panama Canal can navigate it. He said rail service needs to be part of transportation planning and that the state’s small airports could be better utilized.

Smith made several references to teamwork and planning as keys to a successful transportation department. He said he thought the most important part of his job in the beginning was to meet transportation employees, so he visited all seven GDOT districts early in the job. He said he deliberately did not tell legislators or GDOT board commissioners of the trips because “I wanted to go out there as Vance Smith.”

He added, “All we have to do is have a plan and then have the want-to.”