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IBMer Patrick Mueller (Twitter handle: @pmuellr) read about (see 1/2/13 story) the start of toll collection on the third and final leg of Triangle Expressway and asked: @Road_Worrier when will the toll rates be posted to the web?

Good question, Patrick.

My multi-part answer is:

(1) I don't know when NCDOT will get around to updating its TriEx website (ncquickpass.com) to show that the toll road now extends south from Apex to Holly Springs, and to show what the tolls are. The road opened Dec. 20 and toll collection started Jan. 2. They should have done this already. (1 p.m. update: They updated the website today, after DOT folks noticed this blog post.)

(2) I reported the toll rates in the paper and posted them online in mid-December.

(3) Below I will attach for a second time the full TriEx map that should have shown up on the ncquickpass.com site by now. (1 p.m. update: And here (PDF) it is on that website now.)It shows each toll collection gantry along the route and the toll amounts collected when you drive beneath each one. But it's pretty confusing for the average driver: Hard to figure out which ones you'll pay on each trip between your personal Point A and Point B. That's because some of them along the way are collected only at off ramps, so they are bypassed by folks not taking the exit.

So ...

(4) Here are the tolls you'll pay for some of the typical trips along TriEx. [MORE] ...

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More than 23 million drivers use E-ZPass transponders to drive on toll roads in 14 northeastern states, and quite a few of them live in the Triangle. Starting Jan. 3, they'll be able to use their old E-ZPass accounts in other states to pay for trips on North Carolina's new toll road, the Triangle Expressway. (See 12/27/12 story and 1/2/13 story with reader comments).

Likewise, the 9,000 folks who have N.C. Quick Pass $20 hardcase transponders (sorry, not the $5 sticker versions) will be able to use them for trips on E-ZPass toll roads in 14 states from Virginia to Maine and Illinois.

I'm reporting on this today. Please tell me about your E-ZPass and your plans: email me at bruce.siceloff@newsobserver.com or call me at 919-829-4527.

View NC tolls for I-95 in a larger map

The state Department of Transportation says it will spend six months and $1.6 million to assess the economic impacts of its proposal to pay for a $4.4 billion widening and overhaul of Interstate 95 by collecting tolls from drivers. (See 2/12/12 story with map and photos.)

"This study is in response to the people and businesses of North Carolina and their concerns voiced during the first stage of our study process,” said Roberto Canales, a DOT engineer overseeing the I-95 effort. “We want to make the right decisions for the citizens of North Carolina as we move forward.”

It also is in response to orders from legislators.

After the DOT tolling proposal was attacked by truckers, local drivers and local, state and national politicians from Lumberton to Washington, the General Assembly this year ordered DOT to conduct a new study that would consider: ... [MORE]

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You can't say they're selling like hotcakes, because hotcakes are a cold commodity compared to the N.C. Quick Pass. (9/11/12 update: see today's Road Worrier with reader comments.)

NCDOT has sold more than 34,000 of these transponders for would-be toll-road drivers. Some are $20 electronic boxes that eventually will be good for travel on toll roads in other states.  Most are $5 windshield stickers, good on the Triangle Expressway and any other toll roads in North Carolina's future.  You don't need a transponder to drive on the toll road, but transponder users pay lower toll rates than folks who get billed in the mail.

If transponder sales are so heavy -- 10 times what NCDOT had expected -- why is traffic lighter than expected on TriEx so far?  I'm writing about this today.  If you have a Quick Pass but you aren't using it to drive on the toll road, I'd like to hear from you.  Please email me with your workday phone number, or call me at 919 829 4527.

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For better (a much-needed road!) or worse (you pay for every trip!), drivers started using a new stretch of the 540 Outer Loop in western Wake County on Wednesday.

And they started paying tolls today (see 8/1/12 story with reader comments).

So what do you think? Is it getting you to work faster in the morning, or to the mall? Is it getting you home faster in the afternoon? Email me with your contact info, so I can call you. Or share your experiences below.

The Triangle Expressway (TriEx) is a toll road that combines  parts of N.C. 147 and N.C. 540. The busiest part of TriEx also is part of Raleigh's 540 Outer Loop.  So TriEx has too many names already, but many drivers will think of it as an NC 55 Bypass around Apex and Cary.

Here are TriEx toll rates.

View Triangle Expressway in a larger map

Here’s what you’ll pay, starting Thursday, for typical trips on the Triangle Expressway (see 7/29/12 story, "The 540 Outer Loop arrives in western Wake," with reader comments).

Tolls shown here are for car drivers with N.C. Quick Pass transponders. Drivers without transponders are billed by mail at a higher rate. Rates are higher for larger vehicles.  See ncquickpass.com for more info.

Toll with Quick Pass  /  Toll without Quick Pass

N.C. 540 existing section, from N.C. 54 to N.C. 55
52 cents with Quick Pass  /   80 cents without Quick Pass

N.C. 540 new section, from N.C. 55 to U.S. 64
$1.01  /  $1.55

N.C. 540, from N.C. 54 to U.S. 64
$1.53  /  $2.35

N.C. 147 and N.C. 540, from I-40 to N.C. 55
82 cents  /  $1.25

N.C. 147 and N.C. 540, from I-40 to U.S. 64
$1.83  /  $2.80

N.C. 540, from Green Level West Road to U.S. 64
36 cents  /  55 cents

Source: ncquickpass.com

And here are answers to readers' questions about TriEx / 540 Outer Loop.

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The 540 Outer Loop will grow 12.6 miles longer in western Wake County when the N.C. Turnpike Authority opens two more sections – next week, reaching from Research Triangle Park to Apex, and in January, continuing south to Holly Springs. You’ll find more about this in stories Sunday (see 7/29 story) in The N&O, and later in the coming week.

And here are the new TriEx toll rates.

Readers submitted questions about TriEx.  Here are answers.

Q: How long is the Triangle Expressway?
A: TriEx will cover 18.8 miles from Holly Springs to RTP, N.C. 54 and Interstate 40.

View Triangle Expressway in a larger map

The first 3.4-mile leg of Triangle Expressway that opened in January (red on the map) is a little thing that doesn't matter much by itself. But the Triangle's first toll road will become relevant to a great many shoppers, delivery truck drivers, commuters and other motorists when the next two sections of TriEx open this year -- extending the 540 Outer Loop south to U.S. 64 at Apex starting Aug. 1 (blue) and farther south to N.C. 55 at Holly Springs (purple) in December -- for a total 18.8 miles.

I'll be reporting on this over the next couple of weeks as the second leg opens. Local drivers have asked questions:
  * What will the tolls be?
  * When can we start using E-ZPass transponders here?
  * Why must drivers start paying tolls Aug. 2 on a section of 540 (green on the map) that has been toll-free since it opened in 2007?

What else do you want to know?  Please email me your TriEx questions.  Don't forget to include your name and your daytime phone number.

View Triangle Expressway in a larger map

The second leg of the Triangle Expressway will open Aug. 2, extending the state's first modern toll road south from Research Triangle Park to U.S. 64 in western Wake County.

At the same time, an existing leg of the 540 Outer Loop will lose its toll-free status. (7/10/12 update: See today's Road Worrier column with reader comments and TriEx toll rates.)

I'll be reporting on this Monday.  Do you expect to drive on this new leg of TriEx?  If so, I would like to hear from you.  Please email me with your name and workday contact info, so I can catch up with you on Monday.

The first leg of TriEx opened in January (red on the attached map), extending NC 147 south from Interstate 40 through Research Triangle Park to the 540 Outer Loop.

The second new leg (blue on the map) will extend the 540 Outer Loop south from N.C. 55 to U.S. 64 in Apex.  The third leg (purple on the map), now under construction, opens in December.  It will reach farther south to N.C. 55 at Holly Springs.  Off ramps are marked on this map with yellow icons.

Also in August, the N.C. Turnpike Authority will start collecting tolls on an established section of NC 540 (green on the map) between N.C. 54 and N.C. 55.  This road was built separately, but state and federal officials agreed to make it part of the toll road as a means of connecting what otherwise would be two separate tollroads:  Triangle Parkway through RTP (red) and the road once known as the Western Wake Expressway (blue and purple).

Many RTP commuters who squeeze through Apex on NC 55 every morning will welcome TriEx as an Apex bypass.

Here's what's at stake with state budget maneuvers over funding for two new toll projects:

The state Department of Transportation plans to finance the Garden Parkway and the Mid-Currituck Bridge mostly with tolls collected from the drivers that will use them. The legislature already has authorized millions of dollars for planning and preliminary work on these two toll projects.

But DOT doesn’t expect to collect enough in tolls to pay the whole cost of operating and maintaining the road and the bridge, and repaying the money that will be borrowed to finance their construction.

To provide that missing money, the General Assembly has agreed in recent years to make annual “gap” payments for toll roads and bridges.

Each year’s budget now includes gap payments of $25 million for the Triangle Expressway in Research Triangle Park and western Wake County, which opened in January, and $24 million for the planned Monroe Connector Bypass in Union and Mecklenburg counties.

The House proposed in May to add $35 million for the Garden Parkway in Gaston and Mecklenburg counties, and $28 million for the Mid-Currituck Bridge in Currituck County, both starting in 2013. But Senate leaders wanted to cut that money to $15 million for the bridge and $17.5 million for the parkway.

Leaders of both chambers agreed Wednesday to cut all gap money for the Garden Parkway and Mid-Currituck Bridge from the 2013 budget.