Toll roads given a green light

The N.C. Turnpike Authority plans to return to an 1800s North Carolina transportation tradition — building toll roads.

The board voted Wednesday to study four potential toll road projects, one of which would be in the Triangle area.

The vote followed a bill introduced into the N.C. General Assembly on Tuesday by Sen. David Hoyle, D-Gaston, which granted the authority’s request to construct six toll roads.

The Triangle plans include building a toll road parallel to Interstate 40, which would extend from the Durham Freeway to Interstate 540.

Ashley Memory, public relations officer for the N.C. Department of Transportation, said the authority is just moving ahead to the next stage of studying and planning for the toll roads.

“It’s a major first step in making new projects a reality,” Memory said.

The authority has been planning the construction of toll roads for more than a year. Memory said the four plans up for study all are equally viable.

The Monroe Connector and Garden Parkway plans already are being looked at, said Calvin Leggett, manager for the program development branch for the N.C. DOT.

Memory said toll roads would relieve traffic in already congested areas like the Triangle. The Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area already faces issues with congestion because of construction, which would be increased by the construction of a toll road.

“It would be short-term pain for long-term gain,” Memory said.

Leggett said the new roads would be parallel and only meet current roads in one spot, so the added construction of toll roads would not create too many congestion problems.

Memory said toll roads provide an alternate route for motorists, allowing them optional ways for getting to their destination.

“People want a choice, and they can have a choice,” she said.

The authority is working with a general consulting engineering group, HNTB Corp., to study the area and finance the proposed toll road construction.

“We’re not ready to build,” Memory said. “We need to determine if it’s financially feasible. We need to see if the traffic in the area will support financing this project.”

The need for congestion relief is statewide. The planned toll bridge for Cape Fear is a major priority for Sen. Julia Boseman, D-New Hanover, who supported the bill.

“No one would have foreseen the growth (Wilmington) has seen. We need new roads,” she said.

Memory said each of the four areas that would be affected by a toll road showed a huge amount of support for a toll road during the public meetings the board held.

Public support was one of the main criteria for picking a site for a toll road. The other two requirements were financial feasibility and space for a parallel road.

“No one really wants to pay a toll, but congestion is so bad right now, people just want relief,” Leggett said.

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