Tar Heels driven to escape summer's heat via a northbound road trip know they'd better keep some quarters and dollar bills handy. Every East Coast state north of us (except Connecticut) imposes tolls on at least a few roads and bridges. And toll facilities of one kind or another can be found as well in the states to our south, all the way to Miami.

Are tolls about to make their way to North Carolina too?

The pay-to-motor movement seemingly suffered a setback this month in the General Assembly. Legislators adjourned without approving $20 million a year in "seed money" needed for the N.C. Turnpike Authority's first planned project, called the Triangle Expressway.

The highway -- basically the western portion of the far-from-finished I-540 Outer Loop -- would extend 19 miles southward from Research Triangle Park and Interstate 40 to Holly Springs and cost about $850 million to build. For drivers, the toll would be about $2.

Now, says the Turnpike Authority, the only way to speed up construction of the segment -- federal highway funds are committed elsewhere -- is to strike a deal with private investors. According to an N&O news report, the authority would like to negotiate a return-on-investment figure with investors, set the toll rate and keep state control over turnpike maintenance.

Like a public service

The authority says the privately funded tollway would be like any other regulated public service. "What's the difference between roads and electricity, gas and sewage?" asks Executive Director David Joyner.

We could talk about that, particularly in a state that has long allowed for-profit utility companies but has kept public roads free to all comers. Instead, consider the practicality of the Expressway project itself.

This would be one strange toll road.

Traditionally, turnpikes have provided a relatively straight route from a Point A to a Point B. Although technically the Expressway route goes from RTP to Holly Springs, in practice it's but one segment of a much longer circumferential interstate around Raleigh and adjoining towns. Where's the justice -- as so many residents of the area southwest of Raleigh have asked -- in making people pay to drive one part of the Loop when they've already contributed, through taxes, to smoothing the way for commuters on the previously built portions?

There is no answer, if you're looking at fairness. There's just a concrete answer -- this is the only way to git 'r done.

The precedent

As it turns out, there's precedent of a sort. About 100 miles from Charlotte, the Southern Connector makes up a portion of a loop around Greenville, S.C. Commuters there pay tolls with a Palmetto Pass, that state's version of the ubiquitous E-ZPass electronic system used in the Northeast.

And farther afield are examples of far more sweeping toll road privatization than seems to be envisioned here. The Indiana Toll Road across that state's northern tier was sold last year to a group of Spanish and Australian investors; Indiana pocketed nearly $4 billion. Chicago auctioned off its Skyway (a high-rise freeway linked to the Indiana road) to the same folks, picking up $1.8 billion.

So, could North Carolina sell off Interstate 95, from the Virginia line all the way to Pedro's place in South Carolina, for a few billion bucks? Then invest the money in transportation infrastructure across the state? Out-of-state drivers (mostly) and private investors would end up paying to improve roads in the Better Roads State. Is there a downside, beside the expense to Tar Heels who use the interstate as a local road?

In these privatization deals, the investors pay the city or state up front, and become responsible for maintenance, improvements, etc. They make their money through (in the Indiana case) a promised 75 years of collecting tolls.

That of course means decades of expense for motorists as investors profit long after the roads have been paid for. And tolls facilitate the use of "congestion pricing," a market-oriented remedy for rush hour. Although not without merit, such pricing serves to divide public highways into roads (or times of day) for the relatively rich and for the relatively poor.

However, given North Carolina's huge transportation funding shortfall, some bold concepts are worth a look, especially as state leaders consider forming a transportation-needs study commission and calling a special session of the legislature.

Speaking of bold: Any Aussies want to buy the Bonner Bridge?

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