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Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, who leads Virginia’s economic development efforts, says highway toll proposals have “not been addressed to my satisfaction.”
By Kenric Ward | Watchdog.org Virginia Bureau
FREDERICKSBURG — Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling expressed concern Monday about plans to place tolls on Interstate 95 near the Virginia-North Carolina border.
The idea floated by Gov. Bob McDonnell’s administration to put collect toll-collection plazas in or near rural Suffolk County has stirred a storm of opposition from groups ranging from local chambers of commerce to national trucking associations.
“It’s not a done deal,” Bolling told a gathering of executives at the Fredericksburg Area Chamber of Commerce. “A lot of legitimate concerns have been raised.”
Bolling, who is running to succeed McDonnell in 2013, said there are two major “challenges.” The first, he said, is the cost of the tolls.
“Initially, it was expected that they would be $1 or $2. Now it’s $4 for cars and $12 for trucks. Those are whopping amounts.”
The second challenges revolves around federal requirements that toll money be spent on road projects in the immediate area in which they are collected. That, Bolling said, could necessitate additional tolls up and down I-95.
“There’s a problem with doing that in urban areas,” Bolling said.
“The toll issue hasn’t been addressed to my satisfaction,” he told the business group.
