Tom Warne Report, 17 February 2012
LUMBERTON – Transportation officials in North Carolina are holding public hearings this month to discuss plans for $4.4 billion in construction projects on I-95 which the agency hopes to pay for with toll collection. The improvements would begin in 2016 and toll collection would begin three years later.
The concept of tolling the interstate is gaining momentum in North Carolina, as well as in Virginia and Missouri with the three states’ participation in a federal program which allows states to toll federal interstates if the toll revenue goes toward improvements on that highway.
NC DOT officials say the 182 miles of I-95 in their state badly need repair. Tolling the stretches of the interstate in northeastern states has taken place for years, but has only recently begun to be seriously considered in states south of Maryland.