Virginia legislators have backed off somewhat on a controversial plan to widen Interstate 81 with the help of tolled truck lanes, but the trucking industry still isn't too happy with the compromise.

The bill to widen I-81 passed the Senate General Laws Committee last week. The original bill would have required tolls on trucks to pay for the widening. The compromise bill that the full Virginia Senate will debate leaves the door open, leaving it up to the Commonwealth Transportation Board whether to impose tolls.
The House of Delegates passed a bill requiring tolls by an 87-12 vote.
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 American Trucking Associations and the Virginia Trucking Assn. testified against the proposal, calling it "economically unsound" and potentially dangerous. (See "Trucking Groups Fight Virginia I-81 Plan," 2/21/02.)
P. Dale Bennett, executive director of the Virginia Trucking Assn., said if tolls were imposed, truck traffic would be diverted to non-toll highways. I-81 is 325 miles long, and proposed tolls have been estimated at 10 to 20 cents a mile.
Proponents, however, say trucking companies will fork over the tolls in order to save time. A 1998 Virginia Department of Transportation study said trucks make up as much as 40 percent of the traffic on the highway.