Haven't seen a thread on this but there is now one on 147 active january 3rd. Is this something that will be spreading? Should I go ahead and get dat easy pass? I drive a lot

This has been a krallum query

12/18/2011 7:00:05 AM

Get dat pass mayne!! I had one when I lived in Florida and it came in handy.

[Edited on December 18, 2011 at 1:16 PM. Reason : .]

12/18/2011 1:15:04 PM

The tolls do not affect the pre-existing part of NC-147 going north from I-40. Tolls are only being placed on the newly constructed Triangle Parkway (I-40 to NC-540) and Western Wake Freeway (NC-540/NC-55/Alston Avenue to NC-55/Old Smithfield Road).

Here's a visual of the tolled sections:


The entire project is known as the Triangle Expressway:
http://www.ncdot.gov/projects/TriangleExpressway/

[Edited on December 18, 2011 at 1:31 PM. Reason : -]

12/18/2011 1:29:28 PM

message_topic.aspx?topic=619173

12/19/2011 9:48:20 AM

I think it's kind of lame they're charging a monthly "service" fee if you don't use the toll road at least once every month.

12/19/2011 12:40:43 PM

^This is my biggest Whiskey Tango Foxtrot about a lot of transit projects in NC. If you have to charge people a "service fee" who don't use the toll road, then it's probably a bad project. It's similar to my feelings on "mass transit" in Raleigh and Charlotte... if you are having to plug line-items in the tax code to fund your mass transit projects (after it's built, of course), then you probably don't have the need for the system. I mean, for fuck's sake, Charlotte is 1 million people or so and it seems easy enough to drive through.

If North Carolina wants to prepare themselves for growth, I think that understandable. But every time I see a project like this, I keep imagining the cities in the middle east where these oil-rich countries have built resorts, hotels, and skyscrapers so businesses have everything all ready for them, but no one wants to move their operations down there. I don't live in NC anymore, but I still want to see NC grow. I'm not sure starting random mass transit projects is the best use of state capital.

12/19/2011 12:48:05 PM

Do EZ Pass accounts have the same service fee I wonder? I know that if you apply for an EZ Pass outside of an EZ Pass state, they charge you a monthly $1 fee, but I don't think you get charged that same bs fee if you live in New York or West Virginia or whatever.

12/19/2011 12:51:43 PM

^^Better than the crap they pull in SC, building a bunch of shit and not having roads to handle it. The road my apartment complex is off of has at least eight stoplights in a 3/4 mile mile stretch---huge pain in the ass during rush hour traffic (BUILD SOME GOD DAMN BACK ROADS!). At least NC (at least with this instance) is planning ahead.

[Edited on December 19, 2011 at 12:58 PM. Reason : ]

12/19/2011 12:58:36 PM

^^My EZ-Pass account has a $1 monthly service fee, which is applied to the account whether or not the pass is used. I live in NC now but opened my account when living in NYC. I'm pretty sure I was charged the $1 fee then as well. It's an account maintenance fee, makes no difference to them whether you use it or not.

12/19/2011 1:22:08 PM

Is there really a utility gain in this new turnpike?

Not sure why you would pay to drive on the turnpike instead of just taking the extra 5 minutes to sit on traffic on davis Dr. Afterall Davis Dr for instance has been improved to 4 lanes.

12/21/2011 8:17:46 AM

beats me but I'm hoping the new toll road will help take some load off of I-40. I have no intentions of using the toll road because it doesn't go anywhere useful for me.

12/21/2011 8:55:29 AM

I'd hope that the second phase takes some traffic away from 55 in Apex. That road gets absolutely ridiculous at certain times of the day. I've even seen people on US1 south trying to take the 55 exit backed out 2-3 miles.

They really need more highway exits for people living in H.S. and Apex.

12/21/2011 9:02:16 AM

I can't wait for this thing to open. Then those Apex clowns can stop clogging up US-1 in the mornings.

12/21/2011 9:09:55 AM

Quote :

"Is there really a utility gain in this new turnpike?"

i've been collecting data while it's free

http://bit.ly/540toll

12/21/2011 9:15:22 AM

I'll definitely be interested to see what you come up with after the 3rd.

12/21/2011 9:18:58 AM

Cant wait for the full thing to open. Then my 4 mile commute from Cisco to Davis/Aviation will be less congested. 55 towards apex is rediculous at 5:30pm (as is Davis some days)

12/21/2011 9:39:40 AM

A toll is a toll.

And a roll is a roll.

And if we don't get no tolls, then we don't eat no rolls.

12/21/2011 1:36:16 PM

Quote :

"i've been collecting data while it's free "

Your commute is <10 minutes?

12/21/2011 1:50:32 PM

We're men....we're men in tights
We go around the world looking for fights

I'll be honest once the rest of the 540 section gets built if I'm on business or running late I would take it from the wife's relatives house near NC55 and US1 all the way up if I had to. Taking my time, probably not.

12/21/2011 3:10:29 PM

Quote :

"I can't wait for this thing to open. Then those Apex clowns can stop clogging up US-1 in the mornings."

Hah. I can't wait for this thing to open so those Holly Springs/Fuquay clowns stop clogging up 55 in the afternoons.

12/21/2011 3:14:23 PM

I wonder how many people will actually use it though. Its free right now and its empty as hell during rush hour. I would imagine less people will use it once you actually have to pay.

12/21/2011 7:08:54 PM

I have a transponder. It'll only spread and there was recently a story on WRAL of how the toll roads may spread to the existing portions of I-540 in North and East Raleigh. Congestion forecasts show that I-540 will need to widen at some point and that will result in tolls.

http://www.wral.com/traffic/video/10420131/

[Edited on December 21, 2011 at 8:17 PM. Reason : engrish]

12/21/2011 8:17:27 PM

a toll is a toll. and a roll is a roll. and if we don't get no tolls, then we don't eat no rolls

12/21/2011 11:56:46 PM

12/22/2011 12:47:20 AM

Quote :

"Your commute is <10 minutes?"

nah just from the point of where i could continue on hwy 55 or take 540 to get to work.

12/22/2011 8:08:39 AM

delta and amac won this thread

12/22/2011 9:03:46 AM

here in randolph county they add $1 to every license plate for "part" which is a bus system nobody uses- frankly you have to drive your car to catch the bus. anyways so someone like me with close to 30 trucks/cars/trailers is paying $30 a year to not ride a bus and THEY still are having to cut back routes because no one is riding.

12/23/2011 8:46:22 PM

gotta pay the troll toll

I'm Krallum and I approved this message.

12/24/2011 8:21:15 AM

^^ That is what you get for living in Randolph county. Where the fuck is randolph county in the first place?

12/27/2011 8:52:28 AM

middle of the state somewhere. I drive through it when going from Raleigh to Charlotte via 64 and 49.

12/27/2011 10:20:02 AM

Quote :

"http://bit.ly/540toll"

all right- first day back to driving the free road

from mccrimmon parkway on 55 to cornwallis via 540/147:
Toll - To Work Avg - 07:53
Toll - From Work Avg - 07:30

from mccrimmon parkway to cornwallis via 55/tw alexander this morning:
01/03/12 - Free - To Work - 09:26

[Edited on January 3, 2012 at 9:40 AM. Reason : Ø]

1/3/2012 9:38:49 AM

Quote :

"^^ That is what you get for living in Randolph county. Where the fuck is randolph county in the first place?"

Randolph County, hom of Asheboro, the zoo, Richard Petty, and a level of redneck-icity that is unrivaled.

1/3/2012 11:16:38 AM

god damn if it spreads up 540 to leesville and beyond i will be not happy.

I dont know who thought this was a good idea but i am feeling double screwed with the tolls starting and the gas tax increasing at the same time.

1/4/2012 12:06:34 AM

You should express your dissatisfaction with fire.

1/4/2012 1:30:04 AM

^^Wait until you find out what the money from the gas tax and tolls actually goes toward... then wait until they cry for more tolls and a higher gas tax because there isn't enough money for the roads.

1/4/2012 7:53:42 AM

http://www.wral.com/traffic/story/10621899/

they want to toll 95... not just at the borders, but every 20 damn miles

it would end up costing almost 20 bucks to drive the entire in-state segment

1/20/2012 6:20:50 AM

$20? They are insane.

Quote :

"Historically, states have not been allowed to toll existing roads, but North Carolina is applying to be part of a federal pilot program that would make the I-95 project an exception."

I guess that covers my worry. I was concerned that they were trying to use 95 to find a way around the rule where you can't toll existing roads so that they could then open up other roads (like the beltline) to tolls in the near future. Maybe they still will.

I'd still like to see just how much revenue is generated by the state portion of the gas tax and see how that balances out with highway expenditures.

1/20/2012 7:44:58 AM

^^I'm OK with that. Make the people passing through the state help pay for the road they're tearing up. Where the heck do you live that you actually use 95 to commute anyways?

Besides...

Quote :

"The plan calls for nine tolling zones, about 20 miles apart, meaning that some trips would still be free, depending on where drivers enter and exit the highway. "We want to try to minimize the impacts to locals using the highway," Knox said."

[Edited on January 20, 2012 at 7:49 AM. Reason : .]

1/20/2012 7:46:40 AM

i support this more than i support the I-540 tolls... at least if they toll 95 they are recouping money that out of state people DON'T spend on gas in this state considering our gas tax is already sky high.

1/20/2012 7:55:14 AM

^Simple solution. Make the gas tax lower in NC than it is in SC and VA, that way people driving through the state will make sure they fill up in NC.

1/20/2012 8:05:00 AM

put tolls on the border, if anything.

oh yeh, and lower my damn gas tax. fucking thieves.

1/20/2012 8:05:27 AM

^agreed.

1/20/2012 8:14:45 AM

So just out of curiosity... they base the toll on distance traveled, which is determined by the scan from an entry gate and exit gate.

Last time I went out there I went through an entry gate (#4 in the pic above) but no exit gate (#6). I'm assuming this is just because they haven't started tolling that section yet. Also, wouldn't the section of 540 that extends to 55 be covered by the "existing highway" rule, or did they petition to have that section be tolled before it was built?

Kinda crummy to charge a toll for a section of highway that's 2 miles long.

1/20/2012 9:05:06 AM

Quote :

"Where the heck do you live that you actually use 95 to commute anyways?"

I used to live in Roanoke Rapids and commute to Emporia for a little while. Used 95. Would have to use 301. Also at one point was commuting to Rocky Mount from RR too.

Quote :

"put tolls on the border, if anything."

Easy enough to bypass. Pull off in Skippers or Emporia and hit 301. Get back on 95 past the toll booth. Traffic would go WAY up on 301.

1/20/2012 9:41:36 AM

there is a toll in Maryland (or Delaware?) that is easy to bypass like that. most people still go through the toll because they don't want to go through the hassle or either don't know about the bypass.

1/20/2012 9:44:22 AM

Quote :

"Easy enough to bypass. Pull off in Skippers or Emporia and hit 301. Get back on 95 past the toll booth. Traffic would go WAY up on 301."

Exit 180 to Exit 4, actually only adds probably 5 miles and maybe 10 minutes as it's 55 through there anyway for the most part. Ol John is liable to go out there and stick a piece of equipment across the road if traffic skyrockets though.

[Edited on January 20, 2012 at 9:52 AM. Reason : foo]

1/20/2012 9:52:25 AM

Good thing I never have to drive on 95. Now if they decided to start tolling 85 I'd be in trouble.

1/20/2012 10:02:34 AM

back in the day there used to be tolls on 85 in virginia, if i remember correctly (or it could have been on 95 after they merged... i was a little kid going to see my grandma in richmond at the time so i don't remember the details!)

1/20/2012 10:14:17 AM

^I definitely remember the tolls in and around Richmond. Never went on the piece of 85 much around that time, but I think they started around Petersburg on 95 and you got hit 2 or 3 times before Richmond.

1/20/2012 10:23:27 AM

I didn't read the thread, but most states who have tolls don't have state taxes...Is NC following suit?

I pay NC taxes but havent lived there in 7 years. so curious! ha

1/20/2012 10:27:35 AM