Virginia Gets Preliminary Approval to Toll I-95

By Amber Lester Kennedy Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Virginia is one step closer to tolling Interstate 95 in order to fund reconstruction and rehabilitation of the highway.

Gov. Bob McDonnell announced Monday that the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has granted the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) preliminary approval for his plan to toll the highway. In a letter dated Sept. 14, FHWA Administrator Victor Mendez granted conditional provisional approval and outlined the steps required to move forward.

“This approval is a major step toward funding critical capacity and infrastructure improvements needed in this corridor,” McDonnell said. “The Commonwealth cannot continue to be a leader in economic development and job creation if we do not address our transportation needs.” Earlier this year, the General Assembly passed McDonnell’s plan to invest $4 billion in transportation improvements over the next three years.

VDOT estimates tolling the road could generate $250 million over the first five years of the toll program and more than $50 million annually thereafter. The toll revenues would help fund capacity expansion, operational improvements, safety improvements and pavement and structure reconstruction and rehabilitation throughout the corridor. Some of the specific projects that could be funded through the toll revenues include widening I-95 between I-295 and the North Carolina border, enhancing Intelligent Transportation Systems and installing over-height detectors on bridges, shoulder widening and the installation of guardrails and improving pavements.

For now, VDOT’s conditional provisional approval status reserves a slot in USDOT’s Interstate Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Pilot Program. The reservation allows VDOT to complete studies necessary for the project; once the statutory provisions of the program are fulfilled, the state can begin tolling. The Interstate Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Pilot Program provides authority for only three states to toll interstates; because of that restriction, VDOT’s conditional provisional approval to toll I-81 will be rescinded.

Secretary of Transportation Sean T. Connaughton submitted Virginia’s proposal to toll I-95 to FHWA in April 2010, and VDOT submitted a formal expression of interest in January 2011. “The entire I-95 corridor averages a level of service of ‘D’ and some more urban portions are ‘F’ during peak periods,” Connaughton said in a press release. “This level of service is unacceptable anywhere, let alone on the most traveled corridor in Virginia. The ability to implement tolling will provide the revenues necessary to improve I-95.”