Bruce and staff writer Jack Hagel wrote "Toll links would speed growth in south Wake" in Sunday's N&O.

This discussion took place on Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2006, and is now closed.

Moderator: Good morning, Bruce. Let's jump right in. George L. of Raleigh asks: "Do you think that it would be feasible to propose adding Durham’s East End Connector onto the proposed Triangle Parkway toll road project and build them both at the same time? A toll plaza could be placed between Hwy 70 and the Durham Freeway (pun not intended) in addition to the plans for the toll plaza to be placed down in the RTP. Each toll plaza could collect funds for its portion of the project."

BS: That's an interesting question, George. The East End Connector project in Durham has been in the planning stages for more than 20 years, I think. It would create the missing link in a nonstop north-south freeway between I-85 on the north side of the city and I-40 on the south side. The Triangle Parkway would continue this freeway another three miles south from I-40, going through Research Triangle Park to I-540 on the other side. Like several other Triangle projects, the East End Connector has a lot of supporters who are frustrated about NCDOT delays. So perhaps it would make sense to consider building it with tollbooths to collect some of the money it would take to build it. I don't know whether it would work to collect tolls on the Durham Freeway, though -- state law allows tollbooths only on NEW roads and bridges, for the purpose of financing these new roads only.

Moderator: Rome F. asks: "I don't think applying a toll to one segment of the outer loop will work nor is it fair for local commuters. If we want to apply a toll to raise highway funds we should make our segment of I95 a toll road as it is in some other states or better still seeing as a lottery is the panacea for our education system we should create a separate lottery for to fix our deplorable road conditions."

BS: Right now, the legislature isn't allowing toll booths on existing highways, not even for the purpose of raising money to improve them. But I-95 in North Carolina is in bad shape and needs expensive work, and there appears to be no money on the horizon to address this. Even though it isn't allowed by state law now, the legislature indicated last year that it might be OK with the idea of collecting tolls on I-95. It directed the Turnpike Authority or the Department of Transportation to seek federal permission to do that. Thanks for bringing up that issue, Rome.

Moderator: At this point, how likely is it that the southern portion of I-540 will be a toll road?

BS: The crystal ball is still a little hazy. A lot of questions have to be answered first. The state Turnpike Authority will receive a financial study later this spring that will give a good indication about how many drivers would use the southern Loop even as a toll road, how high a toll they would be willing to pay, and how much of the construction cost probably could be covered with toll revenues. (Here's how that part works: If Wall Street lenders are confident that a turnpike would produce $XXX million in toll revenues over the next 40 years or however long they're looking at, then they'll be willing to lend the Turnpike Authority that much money up front, to help pay for construction. They'll be repaid later.) Anyway, the study this spring will give the Turnpike Authority and Wake County folks their first solid idea of how this would work as a toll project and how quickly it could be built. I would say chances are fifty-fifty that it'll happen, but it's hard to predict because we've never done this before. Some people will object to tolls of any amount, while others will be willing to pay more. We'll see.

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