A proposal to widen I-81 in Virginia would add four truck-only toll lanes.
The Virginia Department of Transportation has been working on plans to widen the 325 miles of I-81 for several years. It estimates widening the highway from four to six lanes would cost $3.4 billion and take up to 30 years.
A consortium of seven construction companies, called Star Solutions, estimates it could widen the highway to eight lanes, with two dedicated truck lanes in each direction, to be paid for by tolls, in just 15 years.
The proposal also would create new rest areas and parking lots exclusively for trucks. I-81 from Lexington to Staunton would be the first stretch of highway to be widened.
A 1998 VDOT study found that trucks sometimes make up 40 percent of the traffic on I-81, twice as much as the road was designed for.
Dale Bennett, executive vice president of the Virginia Trucking Assn., told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that the proposal "raises some interesting questions," but until the group takes a closer look at the proposal's details, they can't say if they would support it or not. How much the toll would be is a big factor.
Star Solutions is proposing the project under the state's 1995 Public-Private Transportation Act. The law encourages private companies to build roads that VDOT can't afford to. Once a company submits a proposal, the state has to give other companies 45 days to submit competing plans.
The Virginia Department of Transportation has been working on plans to widen the 325 miles of I-81 for several years. It estimates widening the highway from four to six lanes would cost $3.4 billion and take up to 30 years.
A consortium of seven construction companies, called Star Solutions, estimates it could widen the highway to eight lanes, with two dedicated truck lanes in each direction, to be paid for by tolls, in just 15 years.
The proposal also would create new rest areas and parking lots exclusively for trucks. I-81 from Lexington to Staunton would be the first stretch of highway to be widened.
A 1998 VDOT study found that trucks sometimes make up 40 percent of the traffic on I-81, twice as much as the road was designed for.
Dale Bennett, executive vice president of the Virginia Trucking Assn., told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that the proposal "raises some interesting questions," but until the group takes a closer look at the proposal's details, they can't say if they would support it or not. How much the toll would be is a big factor.
Star Solutions is proposing the project under the state's 1995 Public-Private Transportation Act. The law encourages private companies to build roads that VDOT can't afford to. Once a company submits a proposal, the state has to give other companies 45 days to submit competing plans.
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