RICHMOND, Va. (WUSA) -- Virginia's Governor Bob McDonnell announced Monday that the Federal Highway Administration gave a preliminary okay to toll I-95.
McDonnell says that allowing the tolls would be a critical step in raising money needed for road improvements. Details on exactly where the toll or tolls would be have yet to be figured out, but they would be along a 126 mile stretch of the interstate from the North Carolina border to the Fredericksburg area in Virginia.
Projects that could be tolled in Va. include: widening I-95 between I-295 and the North Carolina border, enhancing Intelligent Transportation Systems and installing over-height detectors on bridges, VDOT said Monday. A spokesman from the Governor's office says the tolls will be targeted to drivers traveling north into Virginia from North Carolina.
Virginia Transportation Secretary Sean Connaughton adds one or two toll facilities are possible. Tolls would be $2 to $4, which could generate an estimated $30 million to $60 million a year.
The Virginia Department of Transportation will now have to conduct detailed traffic and revenue studies.
Connaughton adds the state plans on moving aggressively and the earliest we could see the tolls on I-95 is two to three years from now.