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NEWSFLASH! I-95 through NC is a 50 year old, outdated death trap. Someone dies every week. The toll proposal is for the $7 BILLION needed to improve the East Coast's most vital artery for the next 50 years.
NC has neglected this highway because it mostly benefits out-of-staters. You should be happy about that.
Likewise for I-95 in South Carolina. Aside from improvements in Florence, I-95 in SC is a miserable experience. Nor has Virginia done much to improve I-95 south of Petersburg. The exception is Georgia, which six-laned its portion during the mid-1990s Olympics exuberance.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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Originally Posted by wizard-xyzzy
Likewise for I-95 in South Carolina. Aside from improvements in Florence, I-95 in SC is a miserable experience. Nor has Virginia done much to improve I-95 south of Petersburg. The exception is Georgia, which six-laned its portion during the mid-1990s Olympics exuberance.
Having driven up from Florida yesterday on I-95, I will agree that driving in Georgia is a much more pleasant experience than in either NC or SC. The 6 lanes make a huge difference!
Having spent quite a bit of time on 95 recently (still back and forth between NC and VA homes), I'd say that the NC portion of 95 is the best of the 3 sections I have been taking. It has the least amount of traffic and is in better shape than the other sections (and 295 around Petersburg / Richmond). North of Richmond is my least favorite - too much traffic and backups even with the additional lane each way.
As far as toll roads go, I have been suggesting VA put tolls on 95 for many years. Instead, they raise the tolls on the Dulles Toll Road which is almost a requirement for many folks commutes. So, people are paying money to sit in traffic...They have added the HOT (High-Occupancy / Toll) Lanes on 95 that go south close to Fredericksburg and around the VA portion of the beltway. I'm just glad I don't have to deal with the Dulles Toll Road very often any more. The Greenway, an extention of the Toll Road from Dulles out to Leesburg is quite expensive (something like $4.50 or so off peak) for about 12 miles and it is a flat fee regardless of whether you go one exit down or end to end. Lots of traffic on it too! A comparison from my commute which covers about half the length- the Greenway generally saves me between 20 and 30 minutes vs. a no-toll route. Seems like plenty of people willing to spend that much to save time...
They don't want to toll it just for the heck of it.
NEWSFLASH! I-95 through NC is a 50 year old, outdated death trap. Someone dies every week. The toll proposal is for the $7 BILLION needed to improve the East Coast's most vital artery for the next 50 years.
NC has neglected this highway because it mostly benefits out-of-staters. You should be happy about that.
However, the time has come now to address I-95 through NC.
Maybe just maybe we need to understand WHY our gas tax is not enough to maintain the roads? Maybe they need to just raise gas taxes? Instead our gas taxes are going to roads I don't use IE I95, in turn we can't afford roads that will help the local economy and citizens like NC 540 so I have to pay twice to use that road, gas tax and a toll.
I95 is a road with massive costs and use, just toll it then, instead we suck money away from other local needs and make them into toll roads all cause a deal struck with the devil (federal gov't).
I95 is a road with massive costs and use, just toll it then, instead we suck money away from other local needs and make them into toll roads all cause a deal struck with the devil (federal gov't).
While I agree with your sentiment to an extent, you do realize what you just said right? Some parts of I-95 serve local traffic. That's why there's such an ongoing uproar about tolling I-95 completely in some areas. Tolling I-95 in effect is similar in that instance to tolling 540 here in the Triangle.
Basically there's going to be a "loser" in any case. Nothing is clear cut here.
Maybe just maybe we need to understand WHY our gas tax is not enough to maintain the roads? Maybe they need to just raise gas taxes? Instead our gas taxes are going to roads I don't use IE I95, in turn we can't afford roads that will help the local economy and citizens like NC 540 so I have to pay twice to use that road, gas tax and a toll.
I95 is a road with massive costs and use, just toll it then, instead we suck money away from other local needs and make them into toll roads all cause a deal struck with the devil (federal gov't).
I also agree with your sentiment, but to have an open and critical discussion, I'd also argue that I-95 helps our local economy AT LEAST as much as 540. The products we buy (and sell) likely come and go on 95. It is not just people coming and going to work. It is products. As those products come and go with the least resistance, our economy benefits.
All that said, I agree with you, and would rather see them Toll 95 (the cost to business would not be that significant if a truck carrying $100k worth of product had to pay $10 extra) than 540. But do understand that our interestates, and PARTICULARLY I-95 has a major impact on our local economy.
The problem is, highways, rail, whatever costs money and no one wants to pay, while screaming about how everything sucks. That's the problem we really need to solve.
And rail is all well and good and definitely should be added, but it is not realistic in my opinion to come up with a rail solution that would eliminate the need for work on I-95, unless literally unlimited amounts of money are thrown at it.
All that said, I agree with you, and would rather see them Toll 95 (the cost to business would not be that significant if a truck carrying $100k worth of product had to pay $10 extra) than 540. But do understand that our interestates, and PARTICULARLY I-95 has a major impact on our local economy.
How about this: Put up tolls at the VA and SC state lines. Traffic heading into NC pays a modest toll, no charge to leave NC. That arrangement -- generally speaking -- you would not be impacting local/commuting traffic for NC residents who wonk in NC.
Try it for a year. If it road needs to generate more income, try tolling those leaving NC.
** I have no idea what the traffic counts are for traffic on 95 into NC, but it would be pretty easy to estimate how much money could be generated.
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