View NC tolls for I-95 in a larger map

NCDOT wants to collect tolls on I-95 to pay for a $4.4 billion widening and overhaul project, border to border (see Sunday's story with map, photos and lots of reader comments).

The proposed electronic tolling network is designed to allow lots of North Carolina travelers to continue making short local trips on I-95 without paying tolls. It would make it difficult, but not impossible, for truckers and vacationers who travel longer distances to use I-95 without paying the toll.

As a result, truckers (25 percent of all I-95 traffic) and out-of-state cars and trucks (55 percent) could actually end up paying more than their share of the tolls.

Check the attached Google map to see how this would affect you and your trips on I-95. ... [MORE]

Last week DOT mailed out its first batch of bills to car owners who have driven on the Triangle Expressway, North Carolina's first modern toll road, without using an N.C. Quick Pass transponder.

Did you receive a bill? How much was it for? Do you think you'll buy a transponder?  I'll be reporting on this, and I'd like to hear from folks who have received these bills.  Please include your name and your daytime phone number.

The price of a one-way trip on TriEx is 50 cents for transponder users and 77 cents for the rest of us.  ... [MORE]

NCDOT says it wants to get moving on long-sought improvements to Interstate 95, starting in 2016 with a project to add lanes along 60 busy miles between Lumberton in Robeson County and Interstate 40 in Johnston County.

The state expects to join Virginia in winning federal approval to pay for improvements to I-95 by collecting tolls from its drivers. A long-range plan to add lanes, rebuild interchanges and replace bridges is estimated to cost $4.4 billion.

The Federal Highway Administration recently approved an environmental assessment of NCDOT's plans for upgrading I-95 from Virginia to South Carolina. Public hearings are scheduled from Feb. 7 to Feb. 27. Details and documents are online at www.driving95.com.

View Triangle Expressway in a larger map

The N.C. Turnpike Authority says it did business with 4,400 paying customers Tuesday, the first day of toll collections, on the first 3.7 miles of the Triangle Expressway. (See today's story with reader comments.)

The turnpike authority has set cautious goals for traffic levels on its first toll road, with a target of reaching 8,000 to 11,000 cars a day by next July.  So the first-day traffic count is about halfway there.

Even though the turnpike authority has sold 10,400 N.C. Quick Pass transponders for TriEx drivers who want to pay the lowest toll roate, most of the cars that used the toll road Tuesday were not equipped with transponders.

About 39 percent of the cars had transponders. Their tolls -- 50 cents for the whole 3.7 miles one-way, or 30 cents for a partial trip -- were deducted from their prepaid accounts. 

The other 61 percent did not have transponders. They will receive bills in the mail for their tolls, 77 cents or 45 cents for a one-way trip.

If you can read it, this is how North Carolina will collect money from paying customers on its toll roads, starting today.  There are no quarters and no toll booths.

This was the first morning of toll collections on Triangle Expressway (see Monday's story with reader comments). I drove up and down TriEx to check out the (light) traffic. [1/4/11 update: see today's story about TriEx traffic, with reader comments.]  If you took TriEx to work today, I'd like to hear from you by email or phone (919-829-4527), including your workday contact info. ... [MORE]

View Triangle Expressway in a larger map

Toll collection will begin Tuesday morning on the first leg of the Triangle Expressway, which extends N.C. 147 through Research Triangle Park from I-40 to the 540 Outer Loop. [1/2/11 update: see today's story with reader comments.]

The road opened for toll-free traffic earlier this month, so RTP commuters and other drivers could try it out.

The cost for this 3.7-mile section of TriEx will be 50 cents per trip for folks with N.C. Quick Pass transponders, 77 cents for the rest of us.

So how do you like it?  Do you like it enough to pay a toll?  Will it make your daily drive easier?  If you drive TriEx Tuesday, please share your thoughts -- and your name and workday phone number -- by email or by phone (919-829-4527).

Before state transportation officials cut a red ribbon Thursday morning to open the six-lane Triangle Expressway through Research Triangle Park, they thanked local elected leaders who had endorsed the unpopular idea of collecting tolls from drivers to pay for the road. [An edited version of this story was published in the N&O today; I'm posting the full version here to include more comments from Apex Mayor Keith Weatherly, below (and my photo, left).]

“It wasn’t an easy thing,” said David Joyner, executive director of the N.C. Turnpike Authority. “The northern loop was free. This one, we were asking citizens to pay. You stepped up and you made the tough decision, and you decided a toll road is better than no road.”

When it’s completed, the 18.8-mile TriEx will combine two new highways and an existing section of the 540 Outer Loop into North Carolina’s first modern toll road. There appears to be wide agreement among residents and commuters that the fast-growing region needs the new roads, but time will tell whether drivers want them enough to pay tolls for each trip.

By lunchtime Thursday, a few drivers were using the first 3.7-mile section ... . [MORE]

View Triangle Expressway in a larger map

The first leg of the Triangle Expressway opens for traffic through Research Triangle Park after a ribbon-cutting at 10:30 a.m. Thursday morning, and Nick Parsons expects an easier drive home from work Thursday afternoon. [12/8 update: longer version w/ reader comments in today's story. TriEx now is open for traffic.]

The six-lane toll road extends N.C. 147 south for nearly four miles from Interstate 40 to the 540 Outer Loop. There’s an on-ramp near the Hopson Road gate for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, where Parsons works.

“It seems like it’ll save me a lot of afternoon headaches,” said Parsons, 25, who commutes to RTP from Brier Creek.

TriEx is the state’s first modern toll road, but the N.C. Turnpike Authority won’t start charging drivers to use it until Jan. 3.

When construction on the $1 billion Triangle Expressway is finished in December 2012, the road will reach 18.8 miles from I-40 in RTP through the bustling ’burbs of western Wake County to N.C. 55 at Holly Springs.

The short section opening Thursday doesn’t look like much on a big map, but commuters say it could provide big relief from rush-hour congestion on the busiest highways at the center of the region. ... [MORE]

View Triangle Parkway & TriEx in a larger map

The 3.7-mile Triangle Parkway, the first leg of North Carolina’s first modern toll road, will open Thursday for 26 days of toll-free motoring (tolls start Jan. 3).

No need to set your alarm clock Thursday morning: the actual driving doesn't start until after a 10:30 a.m. ribbon-cutting.

Will you drive this road free this week? Will you pay to drive it later? I'm reporting on this today. Please let me hear from you by email, and don't forget your name and daytime phone number. If you drive Triangle Parkway Thursday, I'd really like to hear from you then, too.

Triangle Parkway extends the Durham Freeway south from Interstate 40 through Research Triangle Park to the 540 Outer Loop. The rest of the Triangle Expressway, from RTP to Holly Springs, will open in 2012.

Exits at Hopson Road and Davis Drive are close to workplaces including the Environmental Protection Agency, Eisai and Ericsson.

Toll collection – all electronic, with no coin booths – starts Jan. 3. See ncquickpass.com for details.

The Triangle Parkway toll road in Research Triangle Park will open for toll-free traffic on Dec. 8, and a few hundred Triangle residents will get an early chance to travel the new road Sunday afternoon -- on foot, in a 5K road race.

 It’s the first section of the 18.8-mile Triangle Expressway, the state’s first modern toll road, will extend south through western Wake County to Holly Springs. Construction is expected to be completed in December 2012.. 

 More than 400 runners are expected to take part Sunday in the Triangle Expressway Trot, a 5K road race with family-friendly activities. The race will benefit Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the traffic safety advocacy group.

 The event near the intersection of Hopson Road and Davis Drive will include food trucks, ice cream, sidewalk chalk art and demonstrations of big road-building trucks and machines.  The race starts at 2 p.m., with activities from 1 to 4 p.m. ... [MORE]