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The article is from 2007 but I really think they replaced some of those signs within the past year. The signs I'm thinking of might have been on 54 though around the interchange.
I do remember driving on I-540 on the west side of I-40 with the I-540 signage. When they did change those signs to NC540 it was quite noticeable since the signs went from blue to black/white. I remember thinking - Hmm - so it is definitely going to be a toll road through here someday and they are switching the signs now to lessen complaints when it happens.
I guess they had already changed the designation officially but were slow on the actual/physical sign changing.
Like the letter writer I also have got used to using 540 on a daily basis since it opened and when Tolls are imposed then I will go back to the roads I was using previously. If all 20,000+ residents of West Cary do the same then traffic in Morrisville will be a nightmare and the highway will be under used, serving people in Apex and Holly Springs who have a major benefit from the extension. If getting to Wallmart in Morrisville or I-40 from Cary Park takes an extra 5 minutes then so be it rather than pay a Toll on what was a road paid from general roads funds and not the Bond Financing for the stretch from 55 southwards.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carmela C
Beermat- thanks for your post! This is something I have been aware of for some time & it has irked me ever since learning of it
For them to toll this postion of 540 is just not right.Especially since is was constructed, as you mention, without using the bond money it should remain TOLL FREE!
Like the letter writer I also have got used to using 540 on a daily basis since it opened and when Tolls are imposed then I will go back to the roads I was using previously. If all 20,000+ residents of West Cary do the same then traffic in Morrisville will be a nightmare and the highway will be under used, serving people in Apex and Holly Springs who have a major benefit from the extension. If getting to Wallmart in Morrisville or I-40 from Cary Park takes an extra 5 minutes then so be it rather than pay a Toll on what was a road paid from general roads funds and not the Bond Financing for the stretch from 55 southwards.
See, that's the thing. If "no one" uses the toll road and traffic gets worse, such that it takes more than an extra 5 minutes to get where you're going, then people "will" use the toll road.
It's not as easy as just adding a toll on an existing non-tolled Interstate. The federal government is extremely reluctant to allow such actions.
See Pennsylvania, which earlier this year saw its federal application to toll the badly-in-need-of-overhaul I-80 denied.
A proposal to toll one federally-designated interstate to pay for a state highway as in the case of I-540/NC-540 would get laughed out of Washington DC.
Through the history of the interstate system, the law has been that routes constructed as non-toll interstates can't have tolls later placed on the route. There are a number of current attempts at getting that law relaxed, or creating a way of issuing 'exception' waivers of some sort. but none of those attempts have been taken seriously at the federal level thus far.
Interstates that are tolled were built that way (like I-185 in Greenville County, SC), or they were pre-existing toll roads that happened to meet interstate construction standards (at that specific time, at least - the standards have been revised over the years) - like the PA Tpk.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Beermat
My guess is that soon as 540 is a complete "outer loop" it will be redesignated as I-640 to comply with Interstate numbering conventions and with the smokescreen of some upgrades to the existing sections, the DOT will introduce Tolls on the whole road. Currently they are working with Virginia to implement Tolls on I-95 thru Virginia and NC to fund the upgrades required to widen I-95, so don't say they can't do it.
I wonder if the 640 re-numbering will actually happen. That was the original plan, and NC DOT may have screwed up in their interpretation of federal policy in one way or another - 540 should have been signposted 640 from the day the first segment opened. 485 around Charlotte, 277 in Charlotte and 240 in Asheville were signposted as such well before they were completely connected as loops, and 840 in Greensboro has been signposted even though it exists in two widely disconnected segments.
The latest that I've heard - unofficial - is that 540 will remain 540 because of confusion the renumbering might cause. There are a few other 3-digit interstates that violate the numbering convention in various places - 495 in New York, 376 in Pennsylvania, 170 in Missouri, and 355 in Illinois all spring to mind.
It's going to take more than an extra 5 minutes to get me to spend $2.50 to ride on NC540.
Exactly !! the problem is that the DOT need to understand as well, otherwise 1000's of people will revert from using the current section of 540 between NC55 and I-40. This will cause congestion and unnecessary pollution in Morisville in particular. I wonder if the DOT did any social impact studies when considering introducing Tolls on this section? as Carmelia suggests maybe it's not too late for further consideration.
I'm led to believe that the reason the Northern 540 is not tolled is that they don't have an alternate route to use...
Not even close. . . .
The northern part of I-540 was built when money was available from the federal government. There is not enough money available now, so the state must come up with other ways to get the money.
I'm led to believe that the reason the Northern 540 is not tolled is that they don't have an alternate route to use... I don't think that is true, what routes where they using before ...
I lived in north Raleigh before and during the construction of most of the northern 540 arc. Before its existence, I somehow managed to get to my job in RTP, and only had to use a couple of off-road dirt paths. Even after 540 was built, I tended not to use it as the traffic it alleviated off the side roads made for a very easy non-highway commute.
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Even after 540 was built, I tended not to use it as the traffic it alleviated off the side roads made for a very easy non-highway commute.
