The Georgia Department of Transportation has promised $1.2 billion it doesn’t have, according to a recent audit, and Commissioner Gena Abraham has ordered a re-prioritization of the statewide list.

GDOT planners explained the proposed ranking system to members of the Rome-Floyd County Transportation Policy Committee.

Click here to view the transportation plan detailing short-term and long-range projects in Rome and Floyd County.

“This will be a technical tool to quantify the need,” said Cindy VanDyke, assistant state planning administrator. “Once you set these weights, it’s going to be what it is.”

VanDyke and GDOT planner Jason Crane said the department is soliciting feedback from local governments and expects to roll out the program in September. Revised transportation plans for each county should be finalized 12 months later.

“Hopefully, this will add some integrity to the process,” Rome Commissioner Jamie Doss said at the end of the presentation.

A road project will be scored on set factors, such as its effect on connectivity and mobility, and the weight of each factor will depend on the location, Crane said.

For example, Gov. Sonny Perdue is insisting congestion-relieving projects in Atlanta Metropolitan Planning Organization counties be awarded up to 70 of the possible 100 points.

In non-Atlanta MPOs such as Floyd County, congestion relief would only earn up to 40 points — but factors such as safety and preservation of existing infrastructure would count for more than in Atlanta.

The factors also would be weighted differently for rural areas where enhancing economic development is a bigger priority.

And, while project rankings will be a major consideration, VanDyke said there are still more factors that will determine priority.

Federal funding must, by law, be divided evenly among the state’s 13 Congressional districts and some areas — including Floyd — have restrictions because of air quality issues.

The availability of local contributions, the environmental impact, public and political input and how much preparation has already been done are among the other elements that will be used to judge a project’s value.

The priority system would apply only to road projects funded with federal and state dollars, VanDyke said.