Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2010

Toll road has few fans

At a workshop last week, folks were quick to suggest upgrades needed on Interstate 95. But it was hard to find anyone willing to pay tolls to fund those improvements.

Officials from the N.C. Department of Transportation were in Smithfield to gather Johnston County's views on how to fix up the aging interstate and how to pay for the work. It's the first stage of a two-year study of North Carolina's 182-mile section of the highway.

Greg Ellis of Four Oaks was among many who opposed making I-95 a toll road. "There's a better way," he said. "It's poor budgeting. Why should we even have to consider it? ... If we're the first to do toll roads, everybody on the East Coast is going to do it."

Local officials from towns along I-95 in Johnston said they feared tolls would harm business and the county's tourism industry, much of which relies on long-distance travelers stopping here.

The DOT has floated a toll of 10 to 20 cents per mile. Ted Godwin, president of the Kenly Area Chamber of Commerce, said such a steep price would hurt his town, where truck stops and motels are an economic engine.

"If it starts to be $12 to $15, I'd probably find an alternate route," Godwin said.

While the DOT is also looking at public/private partnerships and local sales taxes as funding options, engineer Kristine O'Connor called tolling "the most obvious solution."

If I-95 becomes a toll road, the state would deploy "overhead gantries" instead of traditional toll booths in most spots. Gantries are devices that can photograph license plates as drivers speed along the highway. After traveling a toll road, the driver gets a bill in the mail.

The gantries might be spaced out along the highway, allowing some local traffic to avoid tolls, or they might be at each interchange, according to DOT plans shown at last Thursday's workshop.

Tolls could cover the high cost of a sweeping road project like widening I-95 to six lanes throughout the state. But Four Oaks Mayor Linwood Parker isn't sure such huge changes are needed.

Parker noted that the Dunn-to-Kenly section was the first part of I-95 built in North Carolina, and it's among the only segments that haven't seen major improvements since then. He thinks a fix is needed mostly in Johnston and Harnett counties.

"This ends up being the thickest of your traffic," Parker said of the area. "If the road here was improved, it would be 100 percent better. If you did that, you wouldn't have to have a toll."

Local residents and officials, though, have different priorities on what improvements are needed.

Ellis, the Four Oaks resident, said he'd like the state to fix the U.S. 701 interchange just north of his home. He pointed to the short exit ramps and confusing convergence of roads and on-ramps. "That interchange is terrible," he said. "Something needs to be done."

Smithfield Mayor Daniel Evans said he'd like the state to fix up the overpasses and interchanges at U.S. 70 Business and Brogden Road to give travelers a better first impression of his town. "Our biggest concern is our entryways," Evans said.

In addition to hearing residents' concerns, DOT officials had their own assessment of I-95's flaws in Johnston County. Using letter grades of A to F, the state grades road segments on how well they handle traffic volume. Johnston's most congested section is south of Interstate 40 toward Harnett County. Most other stretches earn a C and are projected to get worse. The only section to earn an A or B grade is the road north from Kenly into Wilson County.

The DOT's study notes several low-clearance overpasses, poor exit-ramp designs in Smithfield and Selma and a "crash hot spot" at the I-40 interchange in Benson.

The DOT will continue to assess those issues, taking into account residents' suggestions. The DOT will issue recommendations for I-95 next summer and make funding recommendations for the improvements in the fall of 2011.

Anyone who missed last week's workshop and wants to weigh in can submit comments at www.driving95.com or by calling the DOT's hotline at 877-I95-VIEW.