Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia outlines plans for highway improvements during the Georgia Chamber of Commerce annual Eggs and Issues event in Atlanta on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (Ty Tagami/Capitol Beat)
ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp will take a hammer to gridlock during his last year in office, spending more than $2 billion to upgrade major highways south and east of Atlanta.
The term-limited Republican governor, entering the end of his second four-year term, told a large crowd at the Georgia Chamber of Commerce’s annual Eggs and Issues event at Mercedes-Benz stadium Wednesday that a conservative approach to budgeting had allowed the new investments in road infrastructure, which he said brings the total upgrades to transportation, water and energy during his tenure to $6 billion.
“While some politicians across the country are suddenly talking about affordability and quality of life,” he said, “in Georgia we’ve been actually doing something about it.”
His budget includes $1.8 billion for new dedicated express lanes on I-75 in Henry County and $200 million to add interchanges and overpasses along Georgia 316 from Athens to Gwinnett County, converting it to an expressway.
“It shouldn’t take you a full afternoon to get from Athens to Atlanta or vice versa,” said the governor from Athens.
He is also allocating $250 million to grants for local road projects, $100 million for rural bridge improvements and $35 million for natural gas delivery projects.
One new investment is coming ahead of the World Cup events in Atlanta, when visitors across the country and the globe will visit the state.
Kemp is putting $50 million into a one-time grant to address homelessness in the capital city and other urban areas. The goal is to draw other funding from donors to establish programs that get people off the streets, he said, adding it is not a handout.
Two other leading state politicians spoke at the event, and they both talked about the cost of living.
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, a Republican campaigning to follow Kemp in the governor’s mansion, said affordability is the number one concern he hears about from people on the campaign trail. To that end, he said, the Senate, which he leads, will focus on lowering both the state income tax and local property taxes.
Income tax reduction was already a focus in the Senate, where a special committee studied the issue for months last year.
House Speaker Jon Burns, a Republican from Newington, said last week that he was prioritizing property tax reduction but was open to lowering the income tax, too.
On Wednesday, Burns expressed frustration that more than 300 local governments had opted out of a law asking them to restrain rising property valuations by linking those increases to the generally lower rate of inflation.
The amount homeowners pay is based on two things: the assessed value of their property and the local millage rate.
“This year,” Burns said, “the House will put forward legislation enabling the elimination of the homestead property tax statewide.”