The American Trucking Associations urged Virginia to forget a $13 billion plan to rebuild I-81, a scheme funded largely by tolls.

The ATA suggested a more limited project and offered support to get it done – as long as the industry is not forced to pay tolls.
The comments were in a written statement submitted to Virginia's Senate Committee on Transportation last week. The ATA said the proposal now under consideration is "doomed," and plans to finance I-81 expansion with tolls should be abandoned.
The ATA suggested that Virginia should focus on making spot improvements identified by the commonwealth's DOT and that any federal money for truck lanes should be used only on those segments of I-81 likely to be severely congested in the coming decades. ATA added that the trucking industry is willing to provide their share of political and financial support to these alternatives, provided the industry is not forced to pay tolls.
The Virginia DOT is currently negotiating with a consortium called Star Solutions, which submitted a proposal under Virginia's Public-Private Transportation Act. The proposal seeks to add four tolled truck- only lanes to all 325 miles of I-81 in Virginia. Passenger vehicles would continue to use the existing, toll-free, lanes.
VDOT began negotiations with Star Solutions following an affirmative recommendation by an I-81 Advisory Panel. However ATA's testimony pointed out that VDOT has failed to meet some of the most critical conditions that accompanied the recommendations.
First, VDOT has failed to secure $800 million in federal funding necessary for financing the project. Second, the Panel's recommendation that diversion of traffic to secondary roads should be limited to no more than 20 percent of the vehicles on I-81 does not appear to be possible under any tolling scenario. Finally, the recommendation against a "non-compete" clause that would limit VDOT's ability to make improvements to alternative routes would appear to make toll financing of the project even more difficult.
The Senate hearing was held to consider a bill that seeks to put the brakes on VDOT's consideration of the Star Solutions proposal.