Originally Posted by
OZZIE4DUKE
Thanks for the update on the construction schedule!
As only an occasional user of the toll part of NC-540, it's a godsend! Makes it a quick trip to go from I-40 to Holly Springs and back, rather than a tedious, traffic-laden arduous trip, and I'm perfectly happy to use either my Florida Sun Pass or NJ Easy Pass to pay the tolls, which are discounted when using the passes vs. the "pay by mail" price. I just have to be sure that one of the passes is in it's foil pouch so I don't get double billed by both! BTW, making it a toll road cut about 10 years off the construction schedule. And as to the question as to whether the tolls are permanent or temporary? Bwahahahaha! The tolls on the NJ Turnpike were supposed to be temporary when it was built (opening to traffic on Nov. 30, 1951 - I think OPK and Budwom remember it fondly!), but certainly remain, higher than ever, today.
It's like when they built the 278 bypass on Hilton Head Island - to pay a buck (now $1.25 I think) to miss 20 minutes of traffic going around the heel, from one end of the Island to the other, was well worth it to save the time. If you don't want to pay the toll, you have other free options, it just takes you more time to make the drive.
Not an expert but the only toll road I know of that disappeared was the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike, which disappeared in 1992. Probably because it was an inconvenience for residents of those two cities.
Delaware has maximized the ability to export tolls to residents of other states. IIRC, you can get on I-95 in Wilmington, just after the toll plaza, and go to Newark (UDel) near the Maryland border and exit just prior to the toll plaza.
Sage Grouse
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'When I got on the bus for my first road game at Duke, I saw that every player was carrying textbooks or laptops. I coached in the SEC for 25 years, and I had never seen that before, not even once.' - David Cutcliffe to Duke alumni in Washington, DC, June 2013