8/17/05-Gov. Mike Easley has signed a measure that could mean more toll roads across North Carolina.
The bill permits the state to triple the number of potential toll-road projects it can build to nine. It also calls for speeding up construction of two coastal bridges.
Any toll project approved for construction would be paid with bonds repaid with collected tolls. Currently, there are no toll roads in the state.
The new law recommends tolls on the replacement of the Herbert C. Bonner Bridge, which spans Oregon Inlet on the Outer Banks; and building a private toll bridge connecting mainland Currituck County to the northern Outer Banks.
A provision in the law, previously HB253, allows the NCDOT to hire a company to design and build the bridge quicker than the agency typically would be able to do by contracting out sections of the project.
It also requires the ends of the replacement to the Bonner Bridge to be located in the same general area as the current span.

8/4/05-The House gave final approval Aug. 2 to a bill tripling the number of potential toll-road projects in the state. It also calls for speeding up construction of two coastal bridges.
HB253, which previously passed the Senate, now moves to Gov. Mike Easley’s desk for his signature.
A provision in the bill would allow the North Carolina Department of Transportation to hire a company to design and build the bridge quicker than the agency typically would be able to do by contracting out sections of the project.
NCDOT would be authorized to license the construction of a private toll bridge “of more than two miles in length going from the mainland to a peninsula bordering” the Virginia line.
The toll bridge would need to be built by 2009.
In addition, the effort would expand the number of toll-road projects that could be studied and built in North Carolina from three to nine.
Any toll project approved for construction would be paid with bonds repaid with collected tolls. Currently, there are no toll roads in the state.
For bill status, call (919) 733-7779.

6/24/05-The Senate approved a bill June 21 that would expand from three to nine the number of toll-road projects that could be studied and built in the state.
Currently, there are no toll roads in North Carolina.
The measure now heads back to the House for final approval before moving to Gov. Mike Easley for his signature.
The state’s Turnpike Authority agreed this year to study four projects, but under existing rules can’t build them all.
Under HB253, sponsored by Rep. James Crawford Jr., D-Oxford, any project approved for construction would be funded with bonds repaid with collected tolls.
The measure also would authorize NCDOT to license the construction of a private toll bridge “of more than two miles in length going from the mainland to a peninsula bordering” the Virginia line, Crawford wrote.
For bill status, call (919) 733-7779.

6/20/05-A bill awaiting a final vote before the Senate would expand from three to nine the number of toll-road projects that could be studied and built in the state.
Currently, there are no toll roads in North Carolina.
The state’s Turnpike Authority agreed this year to study four projects, but under existing law can’t build them all.
Under HB253, sponsored by Rep. James Crawford Jr., D-Oxford, any project approved for construction would be financed with bonds repaid with collected tolls.
The measure also would authorize NCDOT to license the construction of a private toll bridge “of more than two miles in length going from the mainland to a peninsula bordering” the Virginia line, Crawford wrote.
If approved by senators, the bill would head back to the House for approval of changes before moving to Gov. Mike Easley.
For bill status, call (919) 733-7779.