20020672 Ver 3_Attachment 33 - 11-17-14 Toll lanes on Independence Boulevard_20141124

Toll lanes on Independence Boulevard?
http://www.wcnc.com/story/news/traffic/2014/11/17/toll-lanes-on-independence-boulevard/19187483/[11/21/2014 4:17:03 PM]
Toll lanes on Independence Boulevard?
Toll lane a possibility for Independence Boulevard WCNC
Tony Burbeck,
WCNC 7:01 p.m. EST November 17, 2014
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A toll lane could be coming to
Independence Boulevard as soon as next summer.
So too, the likelihood of several more years of
construction.
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Attachment 33
Toll lanes on Independence Boulevard?
http://www.wcnc.com/story/news/traffic/2014/11/17/toll-lanes-on-independence-boulevard/19187483/[11/21/2014 4:17:03 PM]
If approved by the state, it would be a three-stage
construction process from Albemarle Road all the way to I-485. The whole thing would
cost about $325 million, NCDOT officials said.
The toll lane would incorporate parts of Independence Boulevard, which have already
been widened in order to make it an expressway.
Adding a toll lane to Independence Boulevard is something that has been studied for
seven years. It recently moved up the state's priority list.
Officials say the words "toll lane" or "toll road" weren't part of the current expressway
language because they are separate projects with different scopes of work.
The first part would be the starter project from Albemarle Road to Wallace Lane. Cars
with fewer than three passengers would pay a fee to ride in the toll lane and be joined
by buses, carpools and van pools, which would not have to pay.
"They would be going one direction in the morning drive and another direction in the
p.m. drive," said Jen Thompson with the NCDOT.
How much it costs depends upon how far drivers want to go.
There would be three entry and exit points.
It would look and feel a lot like the current expressway widening but add about another
six miles down to I-485.
It would come with the state buying right of way for additional regular traffic lanes in
addition to the toll lane.
The sheer volume of cars using Independence Boulevard daily is expected to grow by
about 20,000 in the next decade.
"We can't keep expanding with home lanes and keep choking because we are seeing
the congestion getting worse, and this is critical to getting this built because it is a
critical east-west route and we have to make sure that option is available," Thompson
said.
"If I had to go that way, yeah," said driver Paul Henderson, when asked it he would pay
to use it.
He avoids Independence Boulevard if he can because of congestion.
He likes the toll lane idea, but wonders if drivers have the patience for even more
construction.
"All in all at the end of the day, I believe it will work," he said.
Neighbor Yvette Harris doubts enough people will pay to make a difference.
"It's a 50-50 thing with me," she said.
Independence Boulevard, the southern leg of I-485, and I-77 from Charlotte to the
Lake Norman area, are all spots where toll lanes are coming or expected to come in
the next few years.
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