SC could implement tolls to fund improvements to I-95

[afguy]

The amendment, proposed by Senators Kevin Johnson (D-Clarendon), Brad Hutto (D-Orangeburg) Dick Harpootlian (D-Richland) and Sandy Senn (R-Charleston), would tell the S.C. Department of Transportation to move forward with implementing a plan to put tolls on I-95.

According to lawmakers, the SCDOT has been looking into the matter and has a plan ready. There is a possibility that four toll booths could be created.

Lawmakers said each toll booth would cost $2, meaning if a driver takes I-95 through the entire state, it would generate $8 a car.

Hutto said a lot of the vehicles on I-95 is out-of-state traffic. The money from the tolls would go toward interstate improvement, such as widening it to three lanes in places that are not wetlands and replacing bridges.

"It is fundamentally unfair for the taxpayers of South Carolina to foot the entire bill,"  Hutto said.

According to Hutto, the proposed tolls would start in the Jasper area and move up I-95, adding tolls in the Lake Marion area and in the Pee Dee.

http://www.wtoc.com/2019/04/23/sc-could-implement-tolls-fund-improvements-i-/

[Tomahawkin]

I wish that they would do that to IH 95 in GA as well. Oftentimes the Snowbirds use the interstate more than the locals...

[vdeane]

$8 for 200 miles?  Cheaper than the Thruway.  I don't have a PalmettoPass, though.

[froggie]

In light of the OP and Tomahawkin's reply, I'm going to mention this:

- For South Carolina (or any state) to toll an existing free Interstate route en-masse (as what SC proposes for I-95 in the article) would require getting approval for one of the pilot slots that FHWA recently reopened.  I believe that, as before, there are only three such slots available nationwide.

- Something that could be done under existing Federal law without any special approval would be for GDOT and SCDOT to go in together and build replacement spans over the Savannah River, toll the bridges, and use the tolls to pay for the replacements and any future maintenance/upkeep.

- There are enough bridges on I-95 near Brunswick, GA to where GDOT could theoretically add a toll to I-95 at the Altamaha River and/or the Fancy Bluff Creek bridges, as long as they use the revenue only for maintenance and upkeep of those bridges.  This would also be allowed under current Federal law.

- Similarly, SCDOT could throw a toll on the I-95 Lake Marion bridge and use the toll to pay for a wider bridge, which technically could extend between Exits 98 (SC 6) and Exit 102 (US 301), though per prior analysis this is not a high-priority segment.  That said, they could put a toll on the bridge and widen that small segment without any of the above-mentioned special approvals.

[Mileage Mike]

I hope they do it. NC should've done it as well. Let the people from the Northeast and Florida pay for the highway they use the most.

[WashuOtaku]

I hope they do it. NC should've done it as well. Let the people from the Northeast and Florida pay for the highway they use the most.

They tried, but state legislators around I-95 did not like the idea of tolls, so it was eventually dropped a few years ago.

[RoadPelican]

Tolls in NC were also dropped due to fierce citizen opposition.  I-95 in NC goes thru Rocky Mount and Fayetteville, not exactly high $ areas. I don't think it's a good idea in SC either, worse roadway network than NC, also cuts thru some very rural depressed areas such as Dillion, and Walterboro.

[1995hoo]

I wish that they would do that to IH 95 in GA as well. Oftentimes the Snowbirds use the interstate more than the locals...

"IH 95"??? Do you mean I-95?