But if the defenders of the program are gone, there still are some in positions of power who aren't so sure that ending it is the right thing to do.

Dick Pettys writes in InsiderAdvantage Georgia:

Time was when Georgia lawmakers fought and clawed to fund what eventually became known as the Governor’s Road Improvement Program and then fought and clawed some more to get specific projects onto the list.

But with rural Democrats out of power for some years now and with political clout continuing to shift away from the farmbelt, we got a clear demonstration Tuesday of just how much times have changed.

DOT Commissioner Gena Evans, during a lengthy and wide-ranging presentation at the biennial legislative institute, said there is no evidence now that the GRIP program - at one time the Holy Grail of budget talks - is beneficial.

The program was being thrown together piece-meal by legislators until then-Gov. Joe Frank Harris in the 1980s formalized it as GRIP. The concept was to provide a series of four-lane highways across the state to communities that had been bypassed by the interstate system.

Evans said completion costs of the program now are estimated at $15.6 billion. “To be clear about it, we don’t have clear benefits for what that investment would really turn as far as economic benefits in the longterm,” she said.

About 90 percent of Georgia now is within a 20-mile radius of a four-lane highway, she said. The question that now must be decided is whether that $15 billion investment is worth it if it only improves access by 3 percent.

“That’s something we would like to discuss,” she said.

But if the biggest defenders of the program are gone, there still are some in positions of power who aren't so sure that ending the program is the right step.