NC House moves to prevent tolls on Capital Boulevard to finance highway project
State lawmakers have begun to weigh in on the idea of creating a new toll road in the Triangle.
The House version of the budget passed Wednesday would prevent the state from turning U.S. 1 into a toll road in northern Wake County. Regional transportation planners have proposed some sort of toll to accelerate conversion of the congested four-lane highway into a six-lane expressway.
The Raleigh City Council has endorsed the toll idea, as has the Regional Transportation Alliance, a business group tied to the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce.
But Rep. Mike Schietzelt, a Republican whose district covers parts of northern Wake, said that after speaking with community leaders, business owners and residents, he was compelled to try to block any tolling of the road.
Schietzelt successfully introduced an amendment to the House budget that would bar the N.C. Department of Transportation or the N.C Turnpike Authority from spending money to study, design, construct or operate a toll road on the Wake portion of U.S. 1, also known as Capital Boulevard.
“This road has been available for free use by the public for 110 years,” Schietzelt told fellow lawmakers. “I find it an affront to basic decency that we’re willing to put the burden of expanding this road on working-class families and middle-class families that are going to be hit the hardest by this.”
Rep. Matthew Winslow, a Republican who represents neighboring Franklin County, spoke in favor of the amendment.
“Toll roads are an unnecessary tax that unfairly impacts the working class and makes it more difficult for everyone to travel,” Winslow wrote on social media afterward.
Where did the idea of tolls come from?
NCDOT has drawn up plans to convert 10 miles of Capital Boulevard into a six-lane, 65-mph expressway between Interstate 540 and Wake Forest. Instead of intersections with traffic lights, there would be four new interchanges at Durant/Perry Creek roads, Burlington Mills Road, Falls of Neuse Road/Main Street and Purnell/Harris roads.
In 2018, NCDOT estimated the highway would cost about $465 million, with construction starting in 2021. Soaring land and construction costs forced delays. Now NCDOT says the road would cost $1.34 billion, and construction won’t begin until 2031.
Last year, the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization asked NCDOT to look into whether it made sense to accelerate construction by turning the completed highway into a toll road. CAMPO does transportation planning for the region, and its board includes representatives from local governments, including Wake and surrounding counties.
Chris Lukasina, CAMPO’s executive director, said Thursday that the board asked for the toll study “reluctantly” because it looked as if the U.S. 1 expressway could be delayed even further. The board voted Wednesday to authorize the state to proceed with tolling.
“If other viable options that preserve and/or restore the schedule become available, they would revisit this,” Lukasina wrote in an email.
The Turnpike Authority, a branch of NCDOT, came back with four options, including tolls on the entire expressway or tolls only on new express lanes. Three of the four options would allow construction to begin as soon as 2027.
Three of the four options would also require approval of the General Assembly, half of which has just gone on record opposing tolls. The House voted 71-37 to approve Schietzelt’s amendment, with only three of Wake’s 13 members voting in favor.
Tolls could top $2 for the entire 10 miles
The Turnpike Authority’s study did not say what drivers would pay on U.S. 1, but said the fully tolled expressway would be similar to what drivers pay to use the Triangle Expressway in southern Wake County. This year, drivers with an NC Quick Pass pay about 23 cents a mile, though the rates rise a bit each year.
Joe Milazzo, executive director of the Regional Transportation Alliance, says tolls should remain an option for bringing about a badly needed highway.
“Travelers on U.S. 1 are already paying a toll of delay and stress, every day, with nothing to show for it,” Milazzo wrote in a text message Thursday.
“We do understand the impetus for the legislative amendment that would preclude tolls on a future Capital Freeway,” he continued. “Tolls are never the popular or first choice for the business community or anyone else. And we also share the focus on actively pursuing non-toll funding options to accelerate freeway construction.”
The House budget is not the last word on tolling; the Senate version of the budget doesn’t address the issue, so the two sides will have to work something out.
The two chambers also disagree on enacting new tolls on North Carolina’s ferries. The Senate budget calls for charging drivers and passengers to ride four coastal ferries that are now free, including the heavily used boats between Ocracoke and Hatteras islands.
House budget writers pointedly noted that their budget would “fully fund” NCDOT’s Ferry Division without new tolls.
This story was originally published May 22, 2025 at 5:17 PM with the headline "NC House moves to prevent tolls on Capital Boulevard to finance highway project."
