http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/front/1300255
The above story says that Houston plans to construct what is believed to be the first toll road on an Interstate (I-10). Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t I-95 a toll road in Delaware? I certainly remember paying $6 while driving from Baltimore to New York, even before we hit the NJ Turnpike. Is there some odd classification going on here or what?
Since when can you charge a toll on an interstate, anyway? The Houston plan has toll lanes–you can still drive toll-free if you want. But in Delaware you have to pay a toll. Are there any other toll-interstates in the U.S.A.?
I don’t know what they’re talking about. I can think of tons of Interstates that are toll roads. I-90 and I-87 N to Albany in NY state comprise the majority of the NYS Thruway, and is a toll road.
I-80 in Ohio, and I-76 in Pennsylvania are Turnpikes, toll roads.
I’m sure there are plenty of others.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike is on I-70, part of the Kansas Turnpike is on I-35. There are definitely sections of interstate highway that are toll roads.
Perhaps this–"…the first toll road ever built on an interstate highway…"–means the first one built on an already existing interstate? It’s either woefully lacking in clarity, or just plain wrong.
The NYS Thruway and Mass Pike both predate the Interstate system. They were given Interstate numbers, but weren’t paid for with Interstate funds. As a matter of fact, there is a small section of the NYS Thruway (between I-88 and the Northway) that was paid for with with Interstate funds. Thus if you get on or off at exit 25A, you pay no Thruway tolls between that and exit 24 (and pay a slightly lower toll all the way to the Suffern toll barrier).
This may be the first time Interstate funds were used to build a toll road, though.
IIRC I-95 through Connecticut --the Connecticut Turnpike – used to be a toll road. I-95 in New Jersey is the Jersey Turnpike, which still is.
Maybe Reality Chuck has it right – I think these pre-dated the Interstate system.
Read the article a bit more closely:
Other interstate highways have been built as toll roads in the past (the Tri-State Tollway, I-80/90 in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio comes to mind), but this appears to be the first freeway with optional toll lanes; a 4-lane toll road is effectively embedded into an 18 lane highway.
I-95 is a toll road in Maine, and also in New Hampshire.
The Kansas Turnpike runs along I-35, then I-135, then I-70.
There used to be a toll road between Dallas and Ft. Worth in Texas, which is toll no longer. It’s either where I-30 or I-20 runs between them now (I would have to look up which, but IIRC, it’s I-30).
The list goes on… obviously there are a great many toll roads out there also labelled as interstate highway. So, either the article was factually incorrect when they called it:
OR they meant something else by that phrase. (Cue Inigo’s line from The Princess Bride.
Perhaps either:
A cursory glance at the U.S. DOT web site (www.dot.gov) turns up the following link:
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/////////programadmin/tollfac.html
(Yes, all those slashes are really there) which talks about toll roads on major interstates, which provides some support for the first bullet above, but does not state it clearly enough for my tastes.
Maybe some of the above ideas will suggest to others some resources to search.
From reading the FHWA page cited above it seems that Federal funds can be used on toll roads if the tolls are used for “debt service, reasonable return on private investment, and operation and maintenance, including reconstructing, resurfacing, restoring, and rehabilitating work.” To me that means that you can collect tolls on an Interstate funded with Federal money if the toll revenue goes back into the road in some reasonable fashion.
That’s the case on the PA Turnpike, anyway. The mainline Turnpike from Ohio to Valley Forge (outside Philadelphia) is designated I-76. From Valley Forge to the New Jersey line it’s I-276, and the Northeastern Extension, a toll road which connects Allentown to the King of Prussia area is designated part of I-276 (I believe). There are other spurs and highways that form part of the PA Turnpike system in various parts of the Commonwealth as well.
While the mainline turnpike predates the Interstate system (it was opened in 1940), the revenues collected from tolls can by law can be used only to retire debt on and pay for operating and maintenence expenses. According to my reading of the material cited above, this means that the Turnpike can spend Federal highway aid money to build and repair toll roads.
Zap!