News:

The AARoads Wiki is live! Come check it out!

Main Menu

Toll Roads worth avoiding?

Started by tradephoric, July 05, 2019, 12:03:37 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

tradephoric

On a recent road trip from Harrisburg PA to Youngstown OH we took the Pennsylvania turnpike and it cost $31 in tolls.  Cutting up to I-80 from Harrisburg would have avoided the tolls and according to Google Maps would have only been 4 minutes slower.  Spending $31 for a 4 minute shorter trip isn't worth it to me.

Later on in the trip going from Youngstown OH to Detroit we took the Ohio turnpike and paid roughly $11 in tolls.  But avoiding those tolls would have tacked on an extra 31 minutes to the drive (plus the non-toll route takes you along a lot of 2-lane roads).  Spending $11 for a 31 minute shorter trip is worth it to me.

Of course in google maps it gives you the option to avoid toll roads, but you can't pick and choose which tolls to avoid.  I guess are there any toll roads you don't mind driving and are there any toll roads you avoid like the plague because the cost to ride and/or the travel reduction time isn't worth it?


Flint1979

Toledo to Cleveland or vice versa taking OH-2 bypasses the toll road. There are a few other alternate routes around that too. OH-2 becomes a freeway at Port Clinton  going towards Cleveland.

Often times I will avoid the Chicago Skyway and take the Borman to the Bishop Ford to the Dan Ryan. Which adds on 5 miles and the Skyway would actually be an advantage due to the traffic on the three freeways I named earlier. It's $9 just to cross the bridge on the Skyway.

jeffandnicole

When I go down to Delaware from NJ, many of my trips land me in Wilmington.  Delaware Ave (DE 52) was my break-even point.  If I was on that road or south, I'll take the Delaware Memorial Bridge and pay the $4 toll.  If I was going to points north of that, I'd take the Commodore Barry Bridge and pay the $5 toll.

When I head to Ohio from NJ, I could take the PA Turnpike from the Schuylkill Expressway and points West, or take I-80 via the Northeast Extension.  Because of the cost of tolls either way, it's more of a change-of-scenery type thing...I'd take one route going out and the other coming back.  Weather plays a factor too.  I did take the route Trade mentioned once.  It wasn't a bad route, and with the cost of tolls in PA it's something to consider more often.

On a trip to Florida, I recently took DE 1 to US 301 to US 50 to I-95/495 South. On US 301 I paid the $4 toll, rather than exiting 301 at the final exit before the $4 toll point.  It was my first time doing it so I didn't mind paying it.  But this route also allowed me to avoid the $4 Delaware toll and $4 Baltimore toll on I-95.  And the traffic was MUCH lighter than utilizing 95. So instead of paying $8, I paid $4.  The $4 savings along with the much lighter traffic was well worth it.  On the trip home I was aware traffic could be quite congested on this route approaching the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Being it was midnight though, such traffic didn't exist.  I still saved $8 by avoiding the $4 and $8 Maryland tolls and the $4 Delaware toll by paying the $4 Bridge toll and the $4 US 301 toll.  I might have spent a few more minutes on the road, but again, the toll savings with the lighter traffic was worth it.

Many staying on I-95 will bypass the $4 Delaware toll plaza via DE 896 and MD 279.  An extra 5 - 10 minutes saves the $4.


TheStranger

If I'm going to Sacramento from SF, I sometimes opt to take 101 to 37 to 80 - about 15-20 miles longer but allows me to bypass congestion around the MacArthur Maze and the Eastshore Freeway segment of I-80, all while avoiding the $6 Carquinez Bridge toll.  No real way to avoid toll going to SF from Sacramento though without driving all the way into the San Jose area.
Chris Sampang

sprjus4

VA-168 Chesapeake Expressway in Chesapeake, VA.

$3 one-way off-peak, and during summer weekends it's as high as $8 one-way. There's been talks recently of raising this to $4 one-way off-peak, and $9 one-way summer weekends.

The 6-mile toll road runs parallel to a 45-55 mph rural two-lane road that I would use any day, and so do a lot of tourist traffic avoiding the $8 one-way toll. Though, most of the tourists don't think twice and pay the toll anyways - and that's why it's so successful.

But I wouldn't pay it. I've used the road a few times just to try it out, it's a nice highway built to interstate standards, but the speed limit is only 55 mph. If the speed limit was 65 mph - my decision to use it may sway some with the incentive to be able to drive 65-75 mph. Not that tourists don't already... But 55 mph - I can easily do that on the two-lane road. That two-lane road used to be 55 mph all the way, so it's designed for that speed, the only reason it's mostly 45-50 mph now is because the city lowered it to sway shunpikers as opposed to the original plan to raise the expressway limit to 65 mph.

On the contrary, the city's other toll road, US-17 Dominion Blvd, I'd use any day. The toll is only $1.16 one-way, and shaves a good 15-30 minutes off taking any other route through urban roadways. The road used to be a free 2-lane road, but was expanded to a 4-lane freeway with a toll. You also cross a 95 foot fixed-span bridge over the Elizabeth River - only the bridge is tolled out of the entire 3-mile freeway - more interesting than $3-8 one-way for rural freeway.

sprjus4

Quote from: jeffandnicole on July 05, 2019, 12:56:15 PM
On a trip to Florida, I recently took DE 1 to US 301 to US 50 to I-95/495 South. On US 301 I paid the $4 toll, rather than exiting 301 at the final exit before the $4 toll point.  It was my first time doing it so I didn't mind paying it.  But this route also allowed me to avoid the $4 Delaware toll and $4 Baltimore toll on I-95.  And the traffic was MUCH lighter than utilizing 95. So instead of paying $8, I paid $4.  The $4 savings along with the much lighter traffic was well worth it.  On the trip home I was aware traffic could be quite congested on this route approaching the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Being it was midnight though, such traffic didn't exist.  I still saved $8 by avoiding the $4 and $8 Maryland tolls and the $4 Delaware toll by paying the $4 Bridge toll and the $4 US 301 toll.  I might have spent a few more minutes on the road, but again, the toll savings with the lighter traffic was worth it.
Eventually plan on heading up I-64 to I-95 to DC for something, and then through Baltimore to the NJ Turnpike north... a different routing than my usual US-13, US-113, and DE-1 route due to my stop in DC.

Is it worth taking US-301 / DE-1 from DC to Wilmington over I-95? Any big choke points on I-95 that could be avoided? Probably going to be there around 1-3 pm on a weekend. Because I'll go that way if it's better, less traffic, and faster, also would let me clinch the US-301 toll road.

Beltway

#6
Quote from: sprjus4 on July 05, 2019, 01:20:42 PM
VA-168 Chesapeake Expressway in Chesapeake, VA.
$3 one-way off-peak, and during summer weekends it's as high as $8 one-way. There's been talks recently of raising this to $4 one-way off-peak, and $9 one-way summer weekends.

75 cents at all times even on peak weekends for regular users, and the membership fee would add about 10 cents to that for a commuter --
http://www.chesapeakeexpressway.com/

Quote from: sprjus4 on July 05, 2019, 01:20:42 PM
The 6-mile toll road runs parallel to a 45-55 mph rural two-lane road that I would use any day, and so do a lot of tourist traffic avoiding the $8 one-way toll. Though, most of the tourists don't think twice and pay the toll anyways - and that's why it's so successful. [...]
But 55 mph - I can easily do that on the two-lane road.

If the toll road wasn't there then Business VA-168 would be like ... ?
Actually I know, it was very congested even 20 years ago.
http://www.roadstothefuture.com
http://www.capital-beltway.com

Baloney is a reserved word on the Internet
    (Robert Coté, 2002)

sprjus4

#7
Quote from: Beltway on July 05, 2019, 01:32:32 PM
75 cents at all times even on peak weekends for regular users --
http://www.chesapeakeexpressway.com/
I'm not a regular user. Only about 9,500 AADT use it on weekdays, compared to 16,000 - 22,000 on Business VA-168.

If I was a regular user, I'd pay the toll.

But you can't just use it a lot and get the discount. You have to enroll in the Chesapeake Expressway Discount Program, and pay a $20 entrance fee, than $3.33 per month after that.

Certainly a savings for a regular user, and to bypass peak-hour congestion on Business VA-168 and get an easy ride, but for someone not local, that's not worth paying. The times I head south, I just use Business VA-168 and save $3 one-way, a total of $6.

Quote from: Beltway on July 05, 2019, 01:32:32 PM
If the toll road wasn't there then Business VA-168 would be like ... ?
Actually I know, it was very congested even 20 years ago.
Did I ever say the toll road was bad? I just said it was something worth avoiding for someone like me. I've seen Business VA-168 before the toll road... it was horrible. And quite frankly, while it's not as bad thanks to the toll road, Business VA-168 still has traffic issues. It carries double the traffic (about 16,000 - 22,000) that the toll road carries still today (9,500).

During the summer months is when the most relieve is seen because most of the tourists who clogged up Business VA-168 in the past stay with the toll road and pay the $8 one-way toll. About 30,000 VPD use it during peak weekends, and while it certainly helps Business VA-168, that road is also still packed and there are some backups at traffic signals.

But I'm not complaining about the toll road... it does it's job - mostly getting long-distance tourists off the local roads, and 1/3 of commuters off.

The biggest local complaints have been people moving to Moyock, NC because of the cheaper cost of living, then commuting to Norfolk, but shunpiking on Business VA-168. If you head down Business VA-168 during peak hours, you see a decent amount of North Carolina plates all heading south in the afternoon or north in the morning. Ditto with Elizabeth City and Dominion Blvd.

Beltway

Quote from: sprjus4 on July 05, 2019, 01:41:42 PM
Quote from: Beltway on July 05, 2019, 01:32:32 PM
75 cents at all times even on peak weekends for regular users, and the membership fee would add about 10 cents to that for a commuter -- --
http://www.chesapeakeexpressway.com/
I'm not a regular user. Only about 9,500 AADT use it on weekdays, compared to 16,000 - 22,000 on Business VA-168.
If I was a regular user, I'd pay the toll.
But you can't just use it a lot and get the discount. You have to enroll in the Chesapeake Expressway Discount Program, and pay a $20 entrance fee, than $3.33 per month after that.

I am aware of that, and that is why I qualified it.

This is a general discussion not specific to an area, that is why I injected the regular user tolls (you didn't in your first post).
http://www.roadstothefuture.com
http://www.capital-beltway.com

Baloney is a reserved word on the Internet
    (Robert Coté, 2002)

sprjus4

Quote from: Beltway on July 05, 2019, 01:48:29 PM
I am aware of that, and that is why I qualified it.

This is a general discussion not specific to an area, that is why I injected the regular user tolls (you didn't in your first post).
To be fair, I don't think anybody on this forum would be eligible for the regular user toll. That's why I didn't feel the need to include it.

Beltway

Quote from: sprjus4 on July 05, 2019, 01:52:24 PM
Quote from: Beltway on July 05, 2019, 01:48:29 PM
I am aware of that, and that is why I qualified it.
This is a general discussion not specific to an area, that is why I injected the regular user tolls (you didn't in your first post).
To be fair, I don't think anybody on this forum would be eligible for the regular user toll. That's why I didn't feel the need to include it.

Someone out of town that might be considering a job offer or college education in the area?
http://www.roadstothefuture.com
http://www.capital-beltway.com

Baloney is a reserved word on the Internet
    (Robert Coté, 2002)

sprjus4

Quote from: Beltway on July 05, 2019, 01:54:01 PM
Quote from: sprjus4 on July 05, 2019, 01:52:24 PM
Quote from: Beltway on July 05, 2019, 01:48:29 PM
I am aware of that, and that is why I qualified it.
This is a general discussion not specific to an area, that is why I injected the regular user tolls (you didn't in your first post).
To be fair, I don't think anybody on this forum would be eligible for the regular user toll. That's why I didn't feel the need to include it.

Someone out of town that might be considering a job offer or college education in the area?
Maybe....

I'll put it this way - for a regular user who can afford the 75 cents per day (most can), it's worth it completely. Business VA-168 has peak hour congestion, especially the area between Hillcrest Pkwy and Centerville Tpke - a combination of traffic signals, a high school / middle school in one campus make for a mess with the traffic. Avoid it if you can, and the 75 cents is worth it.

For a non-regular, the $3 off-peak may be worth if there's congestion. If Business VA-168 is congestion-free, I wouldn't pay the toll. For the $8 peak toll, I would never pay that, even if there's congestion on Business VA-168. I'd either wait in the congestion, or for someone like me who's familiar with the area, take back roads.

tradephoric

It would be nice if Google Maps estimated the toll cost for a selected route.  Drivers can independently research the tolls but it can be difficult to determine what toll roads are even going to be encountered.  From my knowledge toll roads aren't differently color coded or anything in Google Maps. Maybe i'm missing a setting somewhere?   

sprjus4

Quote from: tradephoric on July 05, 2019, 02:20:37 PM
It would be nice if Google Maps estimated the toll cost for a selected route.  Drivers can independently research the tolls but it can be difficult to determine what toll roads are even going to be encountered.  From my knowledge toll roads aren't differently color coded or anything in Google Maps. Maybe i'm missing a setting somewhere?
Google Maps does not provide toll information though this is an extremely useful site when it comes to trip planning and toll roads - https://tollguru.com/

Just enter your start and finish points, then it will route the quickest route and tell you the toll rates on it.

It may not be 100% reliable, though all of the times I've used it, it's accurate.

There's also a mobile app.

It would be the best if Google Maps did provide toll information, but this is the next best option.

tradephoric

^Thank you sprjus4 that is a pretty awesome site.  I inputted that Harrisburg to Detroit trip and the cheapest route would save $45 in tolls (without the EZ pass) but would take an hour longer to drive.  Now is a $45 dollar savings worth getting to your destination an hour earlier?  If you make less than $45/hr in your regular job it could very well be worth it to avoid the tolls.  Even if you do make more than $45/hr it could be worth it.

webny99

ON 407 is one of the most expensive in the nation. Should be avoided outside of peak hours, and even then it could be a tossup: depends on whether time or money is more valuable in the given context.

Beltway

Quote from: sprjus4 on July 05, 2019, 02:03:00 PM
For a non-regular, the $3 off-peak may be worth if there's congestion. If Business VA-168 is congestion-free, I wouldn't pay the toll. For the $8 peak toll, I would never pay that, even if there's congestion on Business VA-168. I'd either wait in the congestion, or for someone like me who's familiar with the area, take back roads.

VA-168 is on the preferred route between Richmond and the Outer Banks.  In peak hours unless I was sure that the business route was congestion-free, I would take the tollroad.

With EZPass and a $100 direct draft replenishment level, it is easy to average my tolls into the total cost of driving, and not look at the individual transaction.  I take the Pocahontas Parkway probably more than I need to, and that is $4.50.

But as always YMMV.
http://www.roadstothefuture.com
http://www.capital-beltway.com

Baloney is a reserved word on the Internet
    (Robert Coté, 2002)

sprjus4

#17
Quote from: Beltway on July 05, 2019, 03:45:09 PM
VA-168 is on the preferred route between Richmond and the Outer Banks.  In peak hours unless I was sure that the business route was congestion-free, I would take the tollroad.
For someone who would be considered long-distance traffic, that makes sense. For locals like myself, Business VA-168 is the way to go for most of us.

Considering the fact that most of the long-distance traffic is going down to the Outer Banks where they're going to spend hundreds, maybe even thousands of dollars, the toll is wash for most long-distance traffic and they could care or less.

I just don't see VA-168 worth $8 from my viewpoint as a local, even with a few red lights and 5-10 minutes added on from using the business route. It's not hard to avoid the toll and the business route usually doesn't have issues except during weekday rush hour, and at that point the toll is only $3.

I recall once at night, I was able to drive 55 mph from Hillcrest Pkwy to the bottom of the toll road without stopping once. I think I wasted a total of 2 minutes avoiding the toll, and saved $8 as it was on a peak weekend Saturday. Completely worth the money saved for a local trip.

It's not an issue for me that much though as I don't go down to North Carolina that often, and usually when I do, it's down US-17 towards the cities on those routes. I frequently use VA-168 down to the last free exit, but my destination is generally around there, so the toll road isn't even an option.

Quote from: Beltway on July 05, 2019, 03:45:09 PM
With EZPass and a $100 direct draft replenishment level, it is easy to average my tolls into the total cost of driving, and not look at the individual transaction.  I take the Pocahontas Parkway probably more than I need to, and that is $4.50.
Speaking of the Pocahontas Pkwy, I decided to try it for the first time (I'd usually avoid it when in the Richmond area) last week, and it's certainly a nice highway, but for my entire trip from I-95 to I-295, I counted 8 cars total pass in the other direction. The road was desolate, and I don't think anybody passed me going eastbound, and I think I passed 3 cars total. It felt like driving on a closed highway.

Is it usually this empty? I've read before it's had problems with low traffic counts, under usage, toll revenue not meeting what it needs to be, etc.

I feel like if the toll was more reasonable, more people would use it. I'm curious what it's traffic would be like without a toll.

For instance, if VA-168 was untolled, it's traffic counts would likely jump to 20,000 - 30,000 AADT. It's around 30,000 AADT at the state line, but then decreases to 9,600 AADT on the tolled portion as Business VA-168 goes up to 16,000 - 22,000, then when the toll road ends, it skyrockets to 40,000 AADT.

EDIT - I see now on Google Maps the travel time on the toll road is 7 minutes, and 10 minutes on Business VA-168. This would be a time I would avoid the toll because it's only 3 additional minutes.

Brandon

Quote from: Flint1979 on July 05, 2019, 12:22:23 PM
Toledo to Cleveland or vice versa taking OH-2 bypasses the toll road. There are a few other alternate routes around that too. OH-2 becomes a freeway at Port Clinton  going towards Cleveland.

Often times I will avoid the Chicago Skyway and take the Borman to the Bishop Ford to the Dan Ryan. Which adds on 5 miles and the Skyway would actually be an advantage due to the traffic on the three freeways I named earlier. It's $9 just to cross the bridge on the Skyway.

It's only $5.30 for the Skyway itself, but still worth avoiding and using the Borman.  It's $3.67 (EZ Pass) for the Indiana Toll Road.
"If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention." - Ramsay Bolton

"Symbolic of his struggle against reality." - Reg

hbelkins

Most of my friends who travel between Baltimore and the northeast shunpike the Delaware toll.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

1995hoo

Off the top of my head, I can't think of any toll road I avoid purely because of the toll (as opposed to for other reasons, like avoiding the Pennsylvania Turnpike last week when I was coming down I-99 and I didn't want to deal with Breezewood). Most of the toll roads I use offer a significant time difference compared to the alternatives–for example, if I want to go out to Leesburg, the Dulles Toll Road/Dulles Greenway route is simply a lot faster than any other option such that the fairly hefty toll is worth it, and in Florida if we want to go from Fort Myers to Pembroke Pines it's well worth $3 for Alligator Alley versus going through small towns on FL-80 or taking the two-lane US-41.

Even when I was in college without a lot of money, I tended to opt for the Jersey Turnpike over I-295 most of the time because my experience was that you could get away with going a lot faster on the Turnpike, which to me made the toll worth it.

I can think of specific toll plazas I might avoid. The "Tourist Exit"  in Maine is my favorite example, though I haven't been there since July 2008. Basically if you're headed north and are bound for Portland, you should take Exit 45 (free) instead of Exit 44 (tolled) because it's less than a mile out of the way. But of course you're still using the toll road (the Maine Turnpike) to get there.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

thspfc

The only time I frequently use toll roads is in Illinois. I don't go out of my way to avoid tollways, but if I can't decide which route to use because they're similar in time - 10 minute difference or less - tolls can be the deciding factor.

Beltway

Quote from: sprjus4 on July 05, 2019, 04:42:04 PM
Quote from: Beltway on July 05, 2019, 03:45:09 PM
With EZPass and a $100 direct draft replenishment level, it is easy to average my tolls into the total cost of driving, and not look at the individual transaction.  I take the Pocahontas Parkway probably more than I need to, and that is $4.50.
Speaking of the Pocahontas Pkwy, I decided to try it for the first time (I'd usually avoid it when in the Richmond area) last week, and it's certainly a nice highway, but for my entire trip from I-95 to I-295, I counted 8 cars total pass in the other direction. The road was desolate, and I don't think anybody passed me going eastbound, and I think I passed 3 cars total. It felt like driving on a closed highway.
Is it usually this empty? I've read before it's had problems with low traffic counts, under usage, toll revenue not meeting what it needs to be, etc.
I feel like if the toll was more reasonable, more people would use it. I'm curious what it's traffic would be like without a toll.

The toll is what is needed to support the bond issues, and the facility includes the airport connector which does not have its own toll.

I usually see a lot more traffic than that.  It carries about 17,000 AADT.
http://www.roadstothefuture.com
http://www.capital-beltway.com

Baloney is a reserved word on the Internet
    (Robert Coté, 2002)

sprjus4

#23
Quote from: Beltway on July 05, 2019, 10:29:34 PM
Quote from: sprjus4 on July 05, 2019, 04:42:04 PM
Quote from: Beltway on July 05, 2019, 03:45:09 PM
With EZPass and a $100 direct draft replenishment level, it is easy to average my tolls into the total cost of driving, and not look at the individual transaction.  I take the Pocahontas Parkway probably more than I need to, and that is $4.50.
Speaking of the Pocahontas Pkwy, I decided to try it for the first time (I'd usually avoid it when in the Richmond area) last week, and it's certainly a nice highway, but for my entire trip from I-95 to I-295, I counted 8 cars total pass in the other direction. The road was desolate, and I don't think anybody passed me going eastbound, and I think I passed 3 cars total. It felt like driving on a closed highway.
Is it usually this empty? I've read before it's had problems with low traffic counts, under usage, toll revenue not meeting what it needs to be, etc.
I feel like if the toll was more reasonable, more people would use it. I'm curious what it's traffic would be like without a toll.

The toll is what is needed to support the bond issues, and the facility includes the airport connector which does not have its own toll.

I usually see a lot more traffic than that.  It carries about 17,000 AADT.
Speaking of the Airport Connector, I also gave that a shot... it was like $2.50 to drive 1/2 mile on VA-895 to access it... I didn't realize that you have to pay a toll to access it from I-295... if had known that I would've just swung around to US 60 or I-64.

It looked like the Airport Connector was far over designed... there's stubs to something getting off 895, perhaps businesses they thought would move there? Then the two overpasses, while convenient, at-grade crossings would have sufficed. The road was dead when I used it, I didn't see a single car in sight. Leaving though, I went to I-64, and the access road that way was packed.

I suppose if you're willing to pay the toll, it's a nice freeway & airport access road, but I certainly wouldn't on a regular basis. 

I'd be willing to bet if the toll was more reasonable like other Richmond toll roads, more people would use it. But who knows...

The Downtown Expressway was far more impressive IMO, and is only 70 cents. I was surprised to see $4.50 and $2.50 in my E-ZPass account for Pocahontas Parkway. I had originally assumed like $2 for the mainline, and free to access the airport connector road, especially based on how heavily the signage on I-295 is to get you to access the airport that way without alerting you it's $2.50 that way, and free if you want to go an extra 3 minutes to US-60.

Beltway

#24
Quote from: sprjus4 on July 05, 2019, 11:01:14 PM
Quote from: Beltway on July 05, 2019, 10:29:34 PM
The toll is what is needed to support the bond issues, and the facility includes the airport connector which does not have its own toll.
I usually see a lot more traffic than that.  It carries about 17,000 AADT.
Speaking of the Airport Connector, I also gave that a shot... it was like $2.50 to drive 1/2 mile on VA-895 to access it... I didn't realize that you have to pay a toll to access it from I-295... if had known that I would've just swung around to US 60 or I-64.
The toll is for the 1.5 mile segment of VA-895, not for the connector.  Provides good southerly access to the airport to/from I-295.

Quote from: sprjus4 on July 05, 2019, 11:01:14 PM
It looked like the Airport Connector was far over designed... there's stubs to something getting off 895, perhaps businesses they thought would move there? Then the two overpasses, while convenient, at-grade crossings would have sufficed.
Designed for business parks at those stub intersections.  One bridge over the railroad, and it raises the grade high enough that an at-grade intersection at Sprouse Drive was infeasible.  At-grade highway crossings of mainline railroads is highly discouraged by both the railroad and the highway agency.

Based on underperformance trafficwise, a 2-lane highway could have sufficed, but based on planned new business accesses, 4 lanes is probably wise.

Quote from: sprjus4 on July 05, 2019, 11:01:14 PM
The Downtown Expressway was far more impressive IMO, and is only 70 cents. I was surprised to see $4.50 and $2.50 in my E-ZPass account for Pocahontas Parkway.
You know that highway construction has gotten vastly more expensive in that time period.  The Downtown Expressway cost $60 million and VA-895 cost $360 million.

Quote from: sprjus4 on July 05, 2019, 11:01:14 PM
I had originally assumed like $2 for the mainline, and free to access the airport connector road, especially based on how heavily the signage on I-295 is to get you to access the airport that way without alerting you it's $2.50 that way, and free if you want to go an extra 3 minutes to US-60.
The signs on I-295 do say that it is a toll road.  So you go that way one time and if you don't like it you don't repeat.

It is not just a southerly access to the airport, but also more direct access to businesses to the west and south of the airport.
http://www.roadstothefuture.com
http://www.capital-beltway.com

Baloney is a reserved word on the Internet
    (Robert Coté, 2002)



Opinions expressed here on belong solely to the poster and do not represent or reflect the opinions or beliefs of AARoads, its creators and/or associates.