Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I definitely look forard to more sections being opened, but I am not at all happy about talk of it being a toll road given that we already paid for it. Our wonderful politicians at work! :/
I definitely look forard to more sections being opened, but I am not at all happy about talk of it being a toll road given that we already paid for it. Our wonderful politicians at work! :/
But you HAVEN'T paid for it. The Western segment hasn't been built, and there's no money in the budget to pay for it either. If it is to get built, then it will be paid mostly with LOANS that will need to be paid off with TOLLS or higher TAXES.
It was my understanding that the portion from I40 to NC 55 in RTP was supposed to open today, but when I drove by it still looked closed. The signs have all been changed though. . . . they used to say US 540, but now they say NC 540.
But you HAVEN'T paid for it. The Western segment hasn't been built, and there's no money in the budget to pay for it either. If it is to get built, then it will be paid mostly with LOANS that will need to be paid off with TOLLS or higher TAXES.
The section they are about to open between 54 and 55 was aleady paid for with our taxes. They are now talking of making that a toll section. Tell me again how we didnt pay for it already?
We have one of the highest gas taxes in the country, and woeful mismanagement of our tax dollars when it comes to funding roads(among other issues). If we must toll any new sections being built, then it should all be toll road. It would not be fair for half the triangle to pay tolls and the other half not, especially when we all spent the money to build the existing highway in the first place. Thats my .02
But you HAVEN'T paid for it. The Western segment hasn't been built, and there's no money in the budget to pay for it either. If it is to get built, then it will be paid mostly with LOANS that will need to be paid off with TOLLS or higher TAXES.
I am new to Raleigh, and I found the taxes here to be way too high.
If the current taxes cannot pay for the road, can you explain what does the government do with gas tax, personal property tax, road tax, sales tax, state tax, city tax, and real estate tax?
I am single with no children. About 40% of my paycheck is witheld for taxes, and I feel I am getting little or no value for paying all of those taxes.
According to News-14-Carolina (Time-Warner) , the stretch is to open in a few days. Some minor contractor work is still going on.
It will be free now but could change later.
Now, y'all don't want to hear this, but the influx of new residents combined with political corruption is the issue here. Instead of saving everyone money by collecting infrastructure costs up front with impact fees, government has sold out to the real estate/development operators.
The money for roads, schools, water, etc will need to be borrowed. Interest rates are up, and taxpayers (new & old) will need to pay this on top of the cost for the actual work.
As a long-tern Raleigh resident, I wish impact fees were used or building permits restricted to keep taxes reasonable.
If this unfettered growth continues, those moving here from NJ will find a Southern version of NJ waiting to receive them.
By the way, I once lived in Edison Township, NJ for about 9 months.
The section they are about to open between 54 and 55 was aleady paid for with our taxes. They are now talking of making that a toll section. Tell me again how we didnt pay for it already?
We have one of the highest gas taxes in the country, and woeful mismanagement of our tax dollars when it comes to funding roads(among other issues). If we must toll any new sections being built, then it should all be toll road. It would not be fair for half the triangle to pay tolls and the other half not, especially when we all spent the money to build the existing highway in the first place. Thats my .02
Some points to consider....
- The western segment is going to have to be funded with tolls, since raising gas taxes to pay for it simply isn't politically possible (thanks alot Bill Graham ). I don't know all the details, but I believe the reason they also want to turn this small section into a toll road is because they wouldn't get the needed revenue to pay for the entire western segment otherwise.
- You may have paid for the road, but you haven't paid for the upkeep.
- I hear this argument about NC having the one of the highest gas taxes in the US. This bends the definition of "one of the highest", since there are 12 other states with higher gas taxes than North Carolina.
And here's what the Charlotte Business Journal has to say...
"Critics note the state's tax is the highest in the Southeast -- evidence that taxpayers are being cheated. Context is key, and what these critics ignore is how transportation is funded in other states.
The vast majority of N.C. roads are maintained and built by the state. We have the second-largest network of state-maintained roads in the country. The most recent data from the U.S. Department of Transportation shows in 2000 North Carolina had 78,915 miles of state-maintained roads and 18,477 miles under local jurisdiction.
Georgia is frequently cited as having a low gas tax at 7.5 cents per gallon (plus a 4% sales tax), but construction and maintenance of all county roads is the responsibility of county governments, which pass the cost on to taxpayers. For Georgia, 2000 data shows a different picture than North Carolina, with 17,968 miles of state roads and 95,624 miles of locally funded roads. When all state highway funding is divided by the total mileage of the state system, Georgia invests four times the amount per mile of state road than North Carolina does."
http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte...27/focus7.html (broken link)
- The argument of "woeful mismanagement of our tax dollars when it comes to funding roads" sounds like a nice political talking point, but is it accurate? Do you have any specific examples of this woeful mismanagement? The botched paving job on I-40 doesn't count, since that was an engineering mistake, not mismanagement of money. And during the budget crunch, Gov Easley had to take money out of the transportation trust fund, but what other choice did he have? Should he have raised taxes? Closed down some schools? Eliminated State Police positions? I'd like to see you try to squeeze $800,000,000 out of the bugdet for the next segment of the outer loop without raising taxes.
- The 'fairness' argument about tolls is simply a red herring. No one is forcing you to live anywhere. If you don't want to pay for tolls, then move to North Raleigh!
But if you want to play the 'fairness' game, then....
Is it fair that Northern Wake county has a nice highway, while Southern Wake county doesn't?
If you toll the entire loop, then is it fair that residents along I-540 have to pay a toll, while residents along I-40, US-1, and US-64 get to drive on free highways?
If you toll all the highways, then is it fair that Wake County residents have to pay to use highways to get anywhere, while folks in rural places without highways don't have to pay anything to go anywhere?
Heck...I'd prefer if all roads were paid for with only gas taxes to make everything nice and simple. But you've got boneheads like Bill Graham (of stopthegastaxhike.com fame) spewing half-truths about gas taxes for political gain. So gas tax revenue will never be large enough to pay for all road construction and maintenance, and so we have to deal with either higher property taxes, income taxes, or tolls to make up the shortfall. So if you don't like tolls, then the people you should be blaming are those like Bill Graham.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
