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By Jeff Sheler The Virginian-Pilot May 23, 2012 CHESAPEAKE Motorists using E-ZPass would pay a one-way toll of $1 to use a newfour-lane high-rise bridge along a widened stretch of DominionBoulevard starting in 2017 if City Council approves a consultant'srecommendation unveiled Tuesday. The consultant also recommended that the peak toll rate on theChesapeake Expressway - a primary roadway to the Outer Banks -increase by $2 to $8 beginning in 2016. Without an E-ZPass, two-axle passenger vehicles traveling onDominion Boulevard initially would be charged $3 per trip. Truckswould be charged 50 cents for each additional axle. The plan, presented by Steer Davies Gleave, a London-basedconsulting firm, calls for raising the Dominion Boulevard toll by 5percent each year for 40 years, at which point financing for the$412 million project is expected to be paid off. City Council members received the report Tuesday at a work sessionbut did not discuss or debate its contents. A public hearing on thetolls is scheduled for June 18. The council is expected to vote onthe funding plan in July. The 3.8-mile project is aimed at easing one of the region's mostnotorious traffic bottlenecks and has been on the drawing boardsince the early 1990s. It calls for widening the two-lane road tofour lanes between Cedar Road and Great Bridge Boulevard andreplacing the two-lane Steel Bridge drawbridge over theIntracoastal Waterway with a four-lane fixed-span bridge. Acting Public Works director Earl Sorey and Dave Cuneo, a SteerDavies Gleave associate, briefed council members on both of theproposed tolls. They said no toll booths are planned on Dominion Boulevard.Instead, license plates would be photographed, and bills would besent to vehicle owners without E-ZPass. The larger toll fornon-E-ZPass users, they said, is intended to recoup billing costs. In addition to increasing the Chesapeake Expressway peak toll from$6 to $8 in 2016, the consultant also proposed raising that toll by$1 every five years after that. Peak tolls are in effect Saturdaysand Sundays, starting the Saturday before Memorial Day and endingthe Sunday after Labor Day. The nonpeak toll on the 16-mile section of Va. 168 would stay at $3until 2021. Then it would increase by $1 every 10 years. Discountsfor registered users would remain intact. Last year, the roadway's $2 toll rose to $3, except for peakweekends, when it rose to $6. Cuneo said the toll increases are needed to pay debt service andmaintenance expenses for the expressway. He said the costs wereprojected in a study the firm presented to the council in 2010. Sorey said the city expects to award contracts for the DominionBoulevard project in November, with construction to begin inJanuary. Completion is expected in 2017. The city has submitted design plans to the Virginia Department ofTransportation and is awaiting final approval. Right-of-wayacquisitions along the expansion route are about half-finished, hesaid. The city has earmarked about $60 million to purchase 168properties. The Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization has rankedthe project second on its priority list behind the Midtown Tunnelamong more than 150 road construction projects in terms of reducingtraffic congestion. Earlier this year, the state agreed to provide a $152 million loanto kick-start the project. Unlike the proposed Midtown Tunnel project, tolls for DominionBoulevard would be administered by the city and do not involve aprivate partnership. Jeff Sheler, 757-222-5563, jeff.sheler@pilotonline.com. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as China aluminium usb stick , China lanyards for flash drives, and more. For more , please visit aluminium usb stick today!
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