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GREENSBORO — City voters might be asked for $200 million in November to cut down those exhaust fumes they're breathing every day waiting in traffic.

Would you vote to support $200 million in road bonds in November? Join the discussion at the Debatables blog.

City government needs such a hefty bond package for transportation projects because construction costs are accelerating up to 20 percent a year, City Councilman Robbie Perkins said this week at the Metropolitan Planning Organization's monthly meeting.

At the same time, other cities are lining up like Battleground Avenue traffic at 5 p.m. to compete for limited amounts of money that state and federal governments kick into such projects, he said.

"Without a major bond, I think we're going to put ourselves at a severe disadvantage for future funding," said Perkins, chairman of the regional transportation planning group.

No slate of projects has been formally discussed or selected. But distinct possibilities include work on such persistent bottlenecks as Battleground, Alamance Church Road and Horse Pen Creek Road.

Eight years ago, voters approved transportation bonds of $74 million that led to improvements along such arteries as South Elm-Eugene Street and West Friendly Avenue.

But once prices began rising dramatically about five years ago, the money was exhausted before six projects — now expected to cost $52 million — could be started. They included work on Battleground, North Church Street, and Stanley and Vandalia roads.

Adam Fischer, the city's acting transportation director, said that planners are sorting through responses to a recent survey residents were asked to fill out about their preferences in transportation projects.

City administrators will take that to the council soon, along with comments gathered at a recent series of public meetings on the subject, Fischer said.

Transportation projects likely would comprise most of any November bond proposal, with other possibilities including improvements to the Greensboro Coliseum's auditorium and to the parks and recreation system, Perkins said.

He acknowledged this fall might not be the most strategic time for a big-dollar referendum. It would be only six months after Guilford County's May 6 referendum on $670 million for schools, a new jail and parks.

But he said there's no time to waste because of growing congestion woes and the years-long lead time for road projects, even after money is committed.

"We either stay ahead of this or it's going to run us over," Perkins said.

Contact Taft Wireback at 373-7100 or taft.wireback@news-record.com