I grew up in Cobb County. Known for many years for its odd smash of politics — at least two separate flavors of Republicans, theocrats and oligarchs, have vied for power for as long as I can remember — coupled with a style of sprawl that has a prettier face than Gwinnett’s, I have somehow managed to call this place home for most of my life.

I even lived a couple of years in Cherokee County, while I attended little Reinhardt College.

Everything anyone has ever known about Cobb and Cherokee is about to change.

Today, the GDOT board, in its infinite wisdom, cleared the way for a major widening of I-75 and I-575. Previous reports have indicated that I-75 will be widened to 23 lanes across.

This is a sad day for the entire metro area, and especially for Cobb and Cherokee Counties. When the Northwest Corridor study began, no alternatives to the standard asphalt answer were ever seriously considered. Instead, GDOT is choosing to create what will be one of the world’s widest highways.

Notice, I said GDOT is making this choice. Their only consultation with the public so far has only served as a diversion. While local citizens have focused on where the so-called Bus Rapid Transit stations should be located and how they should be laid out, GDOT has focused on how they can pour as much asphalt as they could and enrich their road contractor pals over at Georgians for Better Transportation.

GDOT doesn’t care about whether the project makes sense, and I don’t see any indication that Sam Olens cares about the project, either, especially now that he’s become drunk from the GBT Kool-Aid. And don’t count on the General Assembly to intervene, either, like they love to do with rail projects. GBT spent nearly $20,000 over the past year or so to keep legislators fat and happy.

Before long, I’ll be moving out of Cobb County. Once this latest boondoggle is complete, I don’t think I’ll ever move back.