Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/120823
Time to Fix Our Interstates by JOHN HOOD I'm a strong advocate for the user-pays principle in transportation. As much as to Robeson County in the eastern part of the state, tolling may prove viable in possible, those who use a particular asset — be it roads, airports, seaports or railroads some places but probably not in others. — ought to pay in rough proportion to the operating and capital costs they impose. According to a new comprehensive transportation study conducted for my For the most part, that's our current policy. Surcharges on airfares pay the cost of organization by the Reason Foundation and the Hartgen Group, refurbishing operating North Carolina's airports. Users pay to ship freight and modernizing I-95 is "vitally important to the state's by port or rail. Motorists finance the vast majority of the cost economy and the coastal plain in particular." The longof the state's automotive transportation system by owning and term price tag could be in the billions. The work need operating personal or commercial vehicles (which represent not be done immediately, however. We should begin by about 80 percent of the total cost of the system) and paying devoting about $150 million a year to address I-95's most taxes on cars and motor fuels (to cover the other 20 percent, critical needs. mainly roads and bridges). Where can the state get the money? The new ReasonOnly in the case of transit service is there is a substantial Hartgen report offers 20 recommendations for reorganizing subsidy from non-users. There are also some inequities within the Department of Transportation, reshaping DOT's each system. Freight trucks, for example, appear to put far more priority list, increasing the use of innovative constructionwear and tear on highways than the value of taxes and fees delivery methods, and spending more money on collected from their operators. In general, however, the user-pay maintaining the roads North Carolina already has to head principle guides North Carolina transportation policy. off the long-term cost of repairing or replacing them. The Fixing the interstates in N.C. promises to be In fact, in recent years North Carolina has extended the plan includes the $150 million annual reserve for fixing principle to its logical conclusion when it comes to adding new costly. I-95 while foregoing lower-priority projects, so it actually limited-access highway lanes. The southern part of the new achieves a net savings of $21 million a year. Outer Belt around Raleigh is being partially financed by tolls collected electronically That would be a good start. We can accelerate the process further by ending from its users. There are other toll-road projects being considered elsewhere in the the annual transfer of some $200 million a year in gas and car taxes to the state's state, including some bridges on the coast and new lanes on I-77 north of Charlotte. General Fund budget. While these transfers may have been justified years ago, While I favor tolls as a useful tool for adding capacity, it isn't suited for every job. either to replace lost sales taxes or finance some programs, it's time for them It is possible, for example, that some of the proposed toll projects may not reduce to end. We should dedicate the money to maintaining and expanding North congestion and increase safety enough to justify their construction at this time. After Carolina's critical transportation arteries, including I-95 and other interstates. due diligence, the state Department of Transportation ought to defer them in favor of Via tolls and current auto-related taxes and fees, motorists can higher-priority projects. cover the cost of a better, safer, and less-congested system as In addition, tolls should be used to add new roads or lanes, not simply to repair long as the state sets firm priorities and embraces new ideas. It existing roads, and only in places where electronic toll collection is a practical option would be a good investment JOHN HOOD, Contributing Writer. COMthat won't create too much congestion on alternative roads. In the case of North in North Carolina's long-term MENTS? Editor@upancomingweekly.com. Carolina's long-troubled section of I-95, which stretches from Northampton County economic health. 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