Renewed calls by groups around metro Atlanta for Governor Nathan Deal to keep his campaign promise to remove the tolls on Georgia 400 prompted his office to give a response — which was essentially that his hands are tied.

Governor Deal's spokesperson, Brian Robinson, sat down with 11alive to talk about the reason the promise had to be broken.

"I think people of Georgia know the governor can't break contracts. They know what happened was not his decision and it's not what he would have wanted," Robinson said.

A decision by former Governor Sonny Perdue and other board members of the State Road and Tollway Authority (SRTA) was made just weeks before Deal took office to extend the life of the tolls. An estimated $40 million in bonds was taken out to pay for improvement projects along the corridor. 

The tolls will stay in place because of this decision until 2017 when the bonds are paid off, the SRTA says.

Robinson did say, however, that Deal is trying to remove those tolls as soon as possible.

According to the Peachpass Web site, about 119,000 people use the toll road every weekday. The average weekday revenue collected at the toll plaza on GA 400 is approximately $55,000.00.

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