ATLANTA — Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal on Thursday said he intends to end tolls on Ga. 400 by end of 2013.

The governor, in a news conference at the Capitol, said the state would pay off bonds the tolls revenues fund on Dec. 1, 2013, some four years ahead of schedule.

The toll booths will come down within weeks of that payment, the governor said.

The State Roads and Tollway Authority, which has ultimate power over the tolls, is on board with the proposal, according to Deal’s statements.

Deal made the announcement flanked by the authority’s executive director, Gena Evans, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and officials from the Georgia Department of Transportation.

It appears to fulfill a campaign promise of Deal’s to get rid of the tolls on the highway, which connects Atlanta with counties as far north as Lumpkin County.

And as Georgia voters near a decision on a regional sales tax that would fund future improvements to the state’s highways, Deal said he hoped the announcement bolstered the public’s faith in such projects.

“We think that should convey to the public that the government can be trusted,” Deal said.

Nearing the second half of his second year in office, Deal has recently faced questions as to whether he would keep his campaign vow.

On July 31, voters across the state will decide whether to approve a sales tax that would fund road improvements in their areas. Support for the tax is unclear, especially in metro Atlanta.

But Deal, a proponent of the tax, said the outcome of the vote would have a “critical impact” on future improvements to Ga. 400.

One of the largest projects on the metro Atlanta regional transportation improvement list is one to revamp the interchange at Interstate 285 and Ga. 400. According to the Department of Transportation website, the project will cost $450 million, with $112.5 million from the sales tax and $337.5 million expected from federal funds.

The only other Ga. 400 project funded by the transportation tax is in Forsyth County in the Georgia Mountains region.

It’s the county’s largest project and it involves adding a single-occupancy-vehicle lane in each direction on Ga. 400 from McFarland Parkway to Ga. 20, work that is estimated to cost $72.9 million

When the highway opened in 1993, state officials originally said they would remove the tolls as soon as construction was paid off. That promise, if fulfilled, would have ended the tolls last year.

But in late 2010, state officials issued new bonds backed by the toll revenue that would fund a new connector between 400 and Interstate 85, among other improvements. The new bonds wouldn’t be paid until June 2017, state officials said.

Deal, in his campaign for governor, had promised to end the tolls. More than a year-and-a-half into his term, he faced criticism and questions as to whether he would do so.

Until Thursday, the governor has said his hands were tied on the issue. But Deal promised to repay the bonds by Dec. 1, 2013, which he said was the earliest possible date to make the payment without incurring significant penalties.

“We think this is an important step in the right direction of being able to do what we promised to do in this very important corridor,” Deal said.

Asked if recent publicity on the tolls influenced his decision, the governor responded:

“It’s always nice to hear the public agrees with what my plan was all along.”

Staff writer Jeff Gill contributed to this story.