Skip to main content

SC gets green light to toll I-95...could I-26 be next?

South Carolina has recently received approval from the federal government to add tolls to Interstate 95 and appears to be considering the same for Interstate 26. However, the state has no current plans to go forward with the tolling on either highway.

The approval which comes after an August request by SCDOT to gain permission to toll the Interstate. The request was part of the "Corridors to the Future" program. South Carolina was not the only state to request tolling Interstate 95. It appears that Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida made similar requests as well.

Rumors of when, how, and where Interstate 95 will be tolled seem to be widespread throughout the state. A November 15th story in the Greenville News said that the tolling of I-95 could begin in the Spring of 2008. Quoting SC Secretary of Transportation Buck Limehouse the article stated that the tolls would be placed on newly constructed 'hot lanes', which are added tolled express lanes. Motorists willing to pay a toll would use the new highway lanes.

To my knowledge, there are no plans for new 'express lanes' on I-95. My guess is that "Spring 2008" means SCDOT will take a more detailed look at a toll option then.

Pete Poore, who is SCDOT's communications director, said that the tolls would go to "refurbishment and maintenance" and that the tolling option is another "tool in the box" of funding options for SCDOT.

One other story came out of the Greenville News article, the state seems to be looking at tolling I-26...or at least applying for permission. In that article, Limehouse said, "We're looking at I-26 for the same thing because that's where all the truck traffic comes up to Greenville. It's a parking lot right now and it's dangerous."

It was later clarified that the possible tolls would be between Columbia and Charleston.

In the case of I-26, the state has no federal permission to toll Interstate 26.

Stories:
I-95 gets OK for tolls -South Carolina Now
State gets federal OK to charge tolls on I-95; I-26 next -Greenville News

Commentary:
So the state, which may toll Interstate 73, has the OK to toll I-95 and may start this spring, but has no plans to toll the highway nor the 'express lanes' to even charge tolls. Then they may toll I-26 but they don't have federal approval. They need it to Greenville but now only Columbia to Charleston.

Confused yet? It's ok, I had to read both stories a few time to make sense of it too!

What does all this mean - nothing. The state got an OK to toll I-95 but they are also competing with other states to be part of a pilot program to toll previously free interstates. They don't have the ability to toll the highway at this time. Nor do they have the 'express/hot lanes' for the tolls to be placed on either.

Don't forget you'd have to go through right of way acquisition for an over 180 mile highway and everything else that goes along with it.

Interstate 26 - I think Limehouse didn't think first as it appears that SCDOT had to scramble to explain what he meant. SCDOT has no approval to even consider tolling Interstate 26 and even more they haven't submitted an application to do it.

So, in short, the facts are this. SCDOT is looking at tolling various interstates as a funding option to improve and expand their highway system. They are only in the beginning stages of this even becoming a reality and there are a lot of hurdles not only within the federal and state bureaucracy but everything else from private citizen's land to environmental groups to anti-tolling groups to whatever else you want to name.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Abandoned US Route 40 in the Truckee River Canyon

Within the Truckee River Canyon in the Sierra Nevada range numerous abandoned portions of US Route 40 can be found alongside modern Interstate 80.   This segment of highway was opened during 1926 as a bypass of the Dog Valley Grade which carried the early North Lincoln Highway and Victory Highway. The corridor of the Truckee River Canyon State Highway would be assigned as US Route 40 when the US Route System was commissioned during November 1926. During 1958 the segment of Interstate 80 between Boca, California and the Nevada state line was complete. When Interstate 80 opened east of Boca numerous obsolete portions of US Route 40 were abandoned. Some of these abandoned segments have been incorporated into the Tahoe-Pyramid Trail.  Part 1; the history of US Route 40 in the Truckee River Canyon The Truckee River Canyon for centuries has been an established corridor of travel known to native tribes crossing the Sierra Nevada range.  The first documented wagon crossi...

Former California State Route 41 past Bates Station

When California State Route 41 was commissioned during August 1934 it was aligned along the then existing Fresno-Yosemite Road north of the San Joaquin River.  Within the Sierra Nevada foothills of Madera County, the original highway alignment ran past Bates Station via what is now Madera County Road 209, part of eastern Road 406 and Road 207.   Bates Station was a stage station plotted during the early 1880s at what was the intersection of the Coarsegold Road and Stockton-Los Angeles Road.   The modern alignment bypassing Bates Station to the east would be reopened to traffic during late 1939.   Part 1; the history of California State Route 41 past Bates Station Bates Station was featured as one of the many 1875-1899 Madera County era towns in the May 21, 1968, Madera Tribune .  Post Office Service at Bates Station is noted to have been established on November 23, 1883 and ran continuously until October 31, 1903.  The postal name was sourced...

The William Flinn (not Flynn) Highway - Pittsburgh's Misspelled Street

For decades if you traveled along PA Route 8 in Pittsburgh's North Hills suburbs, you would have noticed signs that read "William Flynn Highway" at every intersection.  Even today, many businesses and residences have their addresses listed as XXXX William Flynn Highway.  However, it's not William Flynn Highway, it is William FLINN Highway - and the gentleman who it is named for has a long and storied past in Pittsburgh's infrastructure history. William Flinn was born in England in 1851; however later that year, his family emigrated to the United States and would settle in Pittsburgh.  A 10-year-old school dropout, Flinn grew interested in politics and would join the Allegheny County Republican Party in 1877 as a ward commissioner and a seat on the Board of Fire Commissioners.  Flinn would serve in the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives and Senate from 1877 to 1902. (1) Flinn along with James J. Booth would found the Booth and Flinn construction firm ...