Northeast Georgia elected officials will decide this week how to spend $1 billion for transportation projects — if voters let them.

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The regional 1 percent sales tax that would pay for the projects won’t go on the ballot until July, at the earliest.

But the deadline to choose what the tax would fund is this month, and a 24-member roundtable representing Clarke and 11 surrounding counties is meeting Thursday to approve the final list.

In contrast to metro Atlanta, where urban and suburban leaders are squabbling over how to divide the money between roads and rail, Northeast Georgia mayors and county commissioners are singing from the same hymn book.

“I don’t anticipate any changes at all” when the roundtable meets Thursday, Chairman Hunter Bicknell said.

Highlights in the Athens area include a new Interstate 85 interchange in Jackson County; freeway-style interchanges on Georgia Highway 316 in Barrow and Oconee counties; a bypass around congested Winder; four-laning U.S. Highway 78 from Athens to Crawford; widening Georgia Highway 72 in Madison County; bike lanes on Prince Avenue, Lexington Road and North Avenue; improvements to Athens-Ben Epps Airport; and funding for more frequent Athens Transit service.

“I think everyone is going to be happy with what’s there,” said Athens-Clarke Commissioner Alice Kinman, a roundtable member. “I think it’s a good balance” of roads and other modes of transportation like buses, bicycles and planes.

Public hearings in Oconee, Madison and Newton counties drew few attendees and only three written comments. They opposed widening Mars Hill and Simonton Bridge roads in Oconee County.

Voters “either like the projects and are happy with them or are unaware of what’s going on,” Bicknell said.

Once the project lists are settled, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, which has long cited metro Atlanta traffic as an impediment to economic development, will mount a $6 million campaign to convince voters to approve the tax. Local businessmen are

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