State takes step to charge toll on I-95

[g-man430]

More info about this: http://www.greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs....EWS01/605120361

[waccamatt]

I think its a great idea; you have a captive audience on I-95 with no other reasonable alternative. There used to be tolls on I-95 between Richmond and Petersburg, Va. and we never thought twice about them.

[GSP Tiger]

Toll rolls will become more frequent in a couple decades as the state always looks for more funding to pay for its road projects and improvements.

I think it is a little too late to convert I-95 into a toll road. Why spend millions building toll plazas at every exit and at both state lines if it can be used towards rebuilding interchanges, widening and building roads?

South Carolina should consider new builds for toll roads like freeways from Columbia to Savannah, Savannah to Beaufort to Charleston to Myrtle Beach and Aiken to Hilton Head.

[BrasilnSC]

I-95 is a very dangerous route and the money just isn't there. Making it a toll road is a great idea to collect the funds to get the interstate up to par. Alot of it would come from out of state drivers just passing through. Once it is paid for, the tolls are removed.

I don't think they would make this toll road as extensive as a new toll road with booths at every exit. Just a few along the route.

[adrockc2]

I think this is a horrible idea. I live in suburban Philadelphia right now and I have to pay tolls if I want to go anywhere that 76 east wont take me. I realize the northeast utilizes toll roads to finance road upkeep and repair, just like SC would do but let me tell you that I have seen no evidence of that working here. South Carolina's worst roads pale in comparison to the roads I've experienced in this part of the country. My question is, how much of the money collected actually goes into actual maintenance of the roadway? You have to pay toll workers and keep the plazas in working order. I just don't see the expense of building and maintaining plazas as a quick fix. It could be decades before any real monetary benefits are seen.

[vicupstate]

I can support Tolls only for I-73 and other new highways that make sense (ie NOT Greenville's Southern Connector which will soon default on it's bonds).

The reason the interstate is in such bad shape is that it has not been maintained properly over the years. The money has not been available because the legislature has not seen fit to properly fund it. Ditto for the State Troopers. Instead of addressing the REAL problems of this state, those boneheaded morons have choosen to spend their taxpayer-funded time on micro-managing local government and kow-towing to the chicken plant and billboard industries.

A far better solution is to merely raise the gas tax.

This is a better solution because it does not require millions of dollars to build toll plazas. Nor does it require hiring additional state employees that would only make chicken scratch wages anyway. Nor does it require everyone that uses the highway to come to a complete stop (or close to one) to pay the toll. Nor does it require those same people to dig around for change to pay the toll, when they could be on their way. Stopping for a toll subtracts from the time the motorist could spend more productively. Besides, their attention should be focused on our lovely billboards, not grabbing their wallets.

Adding toll plazas also adds additional pollutants into the environment caused by idling, and the additional gas burned to stop and re-accelerate.

Gasoline taxes are assessed on a per Gallon basis, rather than a per dollar basis. As vehicles have become more fuel efficient, drivers are paying less gasoline tax per MILE DRIVEN than before. However, that has little effect on the MAINTENANCE that the road requires. Raising the gas tax also burdens the Hummer and SUV drivers more than the drivers of more fuel efficient autos. [Tolls would not] That inducement to buy more fuel efficient cars is a good thing in my opinion, because it reduces our dependency on foreign oil, and reduces pollution.

The last time the state gas tax was raise was 1987 (by 2 cents). The price of a gallon of gas (87 octane) was about 80 cents, of which about 16.8 cents was state gas tax. Today the price of a gallon of gas (87 octane) is $2.60 and up, of which 16.8 cents is state gas tax. The price of gas has risen more than 300% in that time, but the gas tax has remained the same, and as a percentage of the total cost has FALLEN. What other tax has done that? Certainly not Income taxes, sales tax or property taxes.

SC has the lowest gas tax in the country. SC can raise the gas tax six cents before it matches Georgia's and it would STILL be almost five cents cheaper than North Carolina's.

The only people that pay this tax are the people that use the highways. If you wish to recoup the cost of the gas tax increase, simply drive less or more effienctly. Besides, you will probably re-coup the cost anyway, through fewer front-end realignments, because the potholes might actually get fixed!

[adrockc2]

Preach it, brother!!!

[Spartan]

Its actually not a bad idea. Think about it. Thousands of people pass through our state every day. They use our roads, but they don't contrubute to their maintanence unless they buy gas. This way, anyone who passes through SC would have to contribute.

That said: traffic is bad enough on 95. Having tolls would seriously back things up more.

[Jerseyman4]

That said: traffic is bad enough on 95. Having tolls would seriously back things up more.

Given that at least half of out of state motorists from the northeast carry EZ-Pass, i doubt that. Plus, SC could do what the Ontario 407 Electronic Toll Road does in the Toronto metro area.