Family of transportation chief could profit from Northern Arc

ATLANTA - Immediate family members of state Department of Transportation Board Chairman William G. Hasty own property near the potential intersection of Interstate 575 and one proposed route of the Northern Arc. The holdings surfaced in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution&#39;s Saturday editions. <br> <br> The newspaper reports that William Hasty Junior and William Hasty The Third were part of a business venture that paid $1.6 million for the 123-acre tract in October 2000. That was 16 months after the Atlanta Regional Commission initially approved the road. <br> <br> The $2.6 billion road would span 59 miles from Bartow County to Gwinnett County across northern metro Atlanta. <br> <br> The state DOT chose the two proposed routes of the Arc through the county. The DOT is governed by the board the elder Hasty chairs. <br> <br> The tract currently is used as a landfill for construction debris. Hasty Junior also owns 278 acres of undeveloped land on Georgia Highway 20, about three miles from the other proposed route in Cherokee County. <br> <br> Hasty was out of town Friday and could not be reached for comment. He previously has said his decisions on the Arc would not be influenced by potential windfalls for his family members. <br> <br> His son and grandson told the newspaper that they had not discussed possible routes with the elder Hasty and denied that they purchased the land to profit from the Arc. <br> <br> Hasty Junior said he has lived on his land for 20 years.