Tolling 95 (Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro: buy, taxes, live in)

[davidals]

Originally Posted by cowboy_wilhelm

I don't understand the priority for I-95. The traffic volumes aren't outstanding and the infrastructure is no older than many sections of I-40. The section from Statesville to Marion is full of old bridges with no shoulders, dilapidated overpasses, and short on-ramps from the 1950's. If safety is the priority, more lanes aren't going to stop people from falling asleep nine hours into their trip from New Jersey/Florida.

Also, can't we connect Asheville, Charlotte and Wilmington with a continuous freeway first?

I guess our bigwig eastern legislators from the booming towns of Lumberton, Dunn and Selma don't go past Raleigh.

The goal with I-85, set in the mid-1970s was to have 85 6-8 lanes from the SC state line (SW of Kings Mountain) through to the N edge of Durham. Work began in the 1970s, and still isn't finished:

10 miles from the SC border to US 74 in Kings Mountain
~10 miles from the Meck/Cabarrus line to US 29 in Concord
~10 miles from there to just N of China Grove
7 miles from East Spencer to the southern city limits of Lexington
~7 miles from the I-85/40 split in Hillsborough to the Durham city limits

That's 5 sections still left. 3 of them are under construction, including a replacement for that terrifying, suicide-magnitude bridge (get sandwiched between a buncha 18-wheelers on that bridge and your life will flash before your eyes, at 50 mph, or 90 - makes no difference) over the Yadkin, so there has been progress, but still.

40 should be 6 or 8 lanes continuously through the Triangle, from I-85 to I-95. Let's see how quickly that happens. 77 from Charlotte to Statesville; 40 from Statesville west to west of Hickory - the list goes on. That I-77/I-40 interchange is also very, very scary-out-of-date.

NC isn't good at planning with roads. It isn't good at getting things done, road-wise. The money gets diverted, usually into fixing the state budget or some other black hole, and it doesn't seem to get repaid, and politics often determines where things ARE done, and at what priority level - things like I-295 around Fayetteville leapfrogging beltways projects in several larger cities, for example.

[cowboy_wilhelm]

Check out all the recurring congestion on I-95:

I-95 north/Rocky Mount vicinity
I-95 south/Fayetteville vicinity

Other areas

[Recip]

Originally Posted by urbancharlotte

The only problem here is that Northeast-Florida commuters can EASILY take I-81 to I-77 then hit I-26 down to I-95; a move many will take just to avoid the $20 tolls. Also, I-26/I-77/I-85 is only 45 minutes or so longer and will get folks around I-95 in North Carolina (they will leave I-95 in SC and re-enter in VA; thus losing 45 mins to an hour while saving $20 dollars). Honestly though, they'll actually only save $15 dollars or so due to the higher miles/gas; but most won't see it that way.

If were driving all day up or down the east coast, I think it might be worth $20 to save an hour, especially if it is not a route I take all the time. I am fine with driving long distances and have done 12-16 hours plenty of times, but at the end of the day when you are trying to get as far as you can, that hour you saved can mean a lot.

[MrBojangles]

Map of the tolling stations throughout 95

Crosstown Traffic - Check this map to see how DOT toll plan would affect your drive on I-95 | newsobserver.com blogs

[ZeusAV]

Originally Posted by MrBojangles

Map of the tolling stations throughout 95

Crosstown Traffic - Check this map to see how DOT toll plan would affect your drive on I-95 | newsobserver.com blogs

So is it confirmed that NCDOT will toll it? I hope so. The highway needs upgrading badly and I have no problem with letting the Northerners and Floridians who use it most paying for it.

[DPK]

Initial Federal approval given to toll I-95 in NC:
http://www.wral.com/traffic/story/10747682/

[MrBojangles]

I would love to see a toll like this give residents of NC a discounted rate. Then hike up the difference on the out-of-state people.


Same thing for ferries. Allow the residents of lets say Ocracoke get a reduced fare. They put the burden of the debt on people who do not live there, but use the resources.

[box_of_zip_disks]

They've got a plan for people doing short local trips to get on and off 95 toll-free.

[Dixiedoxie]

You all seem unaware of the very worst thing about toll roads. Back-ups, congestion and accidents.

[box_of_zip_disks]

I thought the very worst thing about toll roads was having to pay to drive on them.