11/19/03-Gov. Mike Easley has said he would not approve a plan to place toll booths along I-95 through the state.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation announced earlier this month it would seek federal permission to charge tolls on I-95 to pay for the highway’s $3 billion overhaul.
The Joint Legislative Transportation Committee had agreed to authorize the highway department to seek the change on the interstate from the Federal Highway Administration.
The governor did not block the effort, but will not sign off on it – a requirement for the plan to move forward.
NCDOT was attempting to take advantage of a federal test program that would allow putting tolls on existing interstate highways in a small number of states.

11/7/03-The North Carolina Department of Transportation will seek federal permission to charge tolls on I-95 to pay for the highway’s $3 billion overhaul.
The Joint Legislative Transportation Committee last month agreed to authorize the highway department to seek the change on the interstate from the Federal Highway Administration.
A report prepared by a consultant hired by NCDOT said the state could pay for the upgrade by charging drivers $18 to travel the entire 182 miles the highway wends through eastern North Carolina.
The plan calls for constructing six toll booths about 30 miles apart, and collecting $3 at each booth. The tolls would raise enough funds over 30 years to widen I-95 to eight lanes.
If the state’s application is approved, it would let North Carolina grab one of two spots remaining in a federal test program on putting tolls on existing interstate highways. Ohio and Texas have expressed interest in the other two.
The state then would have to prepare a formal application and the General Assembly would have to rescind a law that prohibits tolls on existing roads. The Legislature last year passed that provision at the same time it allowed a new turnpike authority to build three new toll roads.
Even if the proposal moves forward, the state wouldn’t collect its first I-95 toll until at least 2013.