Toll roads. Are they a pain in the ASS?

We will be getting our first one this summer. I am afraid it will be just the start.

I live in Minneapolis...

One of the worst is the tollway on the way into Chicago from Madison, WI!!! I HATE that road!!! :grr:

I know it is selective, but how long will it be before others follow.

This sucks! Could you send me a link to more info? I'll fight this!!!

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DFL: Toll Lane Plan Moving Too Fast

Feb 25, 2004 7:13 am US/Central
St. Paul (AP) The Minnesota Department of Transportation is taking the first major steps toward having private developers build the state's first toll roads -- a process DFLers worry is moving too fast.

"Let's not fast track the fast lanes," Rep. Frank Hornstein, DFL-Minneapolis, said Tuesday.

Building toll roads would be a new direction for the state and one Hornstein said should get a close review by the Legislature.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty has said the administration doesn't need legislative approval to move forward with the plan to allow companies to build more lanes on highways, then recoup the costs through tolls.

California, Texas and Virginia have added lanes this way -- privately built, but publicly owned. When the project is paid for, the fees theoretically would stop and anyone could use the lanes at no charge.

A notice published in the state register Monday invites developers to an industry forum next week in St. Paul. The forum, which is closed to the public, will provide information and solicit guidance on the initiative and how to overcome "perceived barriers" to the so-called Freeing Alternatives for Speedy Transportation lanes, or FAST.

Jeanne Aamodt of MnDOT said the agency was proceeding with "due diligence," seeking comment from the industry and the public about the idea.

"We are not proceeding in haste," she said.

The list of possible corridors so far is limited to the Twin Cities area and includes Interstates 494 and 35W, as well as Highways 36 and 65.

Pawlenty said earlier that it would be at least four years before any new lanes might be ready for traffic and only non-cash, electronic technology would be used to collect the fees.

But Hornstein and Sens. Sharon Marko and Scott Dibble say important issues should be discussed with legislators before the state even begins calling for bids, including:


How much taxpayers will pay for the lanes over time.


Whether there should be legislative oversight or review of the plan.


How the agency's proposed no-compete clauses could affect transit.

Marko said she prefers raising the gas tax to tolls.

But Pawlenty has said the gas tax isn't the best way to fund transportation projects anymore because cars and trucks are becoming more fuel efficient.

but once ya hit the wisconsin border it`s not bad-- unless it`s tourist season--

nt

It simplifies things greatly, and, if you kill someone and escape in a car, the cops can track you.

I might be watching too much TV...............

Those who use them pay. Those who don't, don't. What could be more fair than that? And there's electronic toll passes for the impatient set...

we have them in PA. they suck.

Not to mention we pay all this friggin money & the Roads SUCK worse than any other state I've ever been in