i-95

The board of directors of Maryland Transportation Authority (MdTA) operator of the I-95 Kennedy Highway Toll Road has approved signing of a 35 year concession on its two service plazas. The selected concessionaire Areas USA is a local subsidiary of a large established international company Grupo Areas SA head-officed in Barcelona Spain with major food concessions in 70 airports and 160 other toll and travel service plazas mostly in Europe and Latin America.

Opposition is steadily growing in the small west Rhode Island communities to state moves to collect a toll on I-95. Richmond and Hopkinton town councils are now on record as opposing the RI/I-95 toll for which the state is seeking federal approval, and they are likely to be joined by Westerly.

The George Washington Toll Road Authority (GWTRA) is making progress in developing the Rappahannock Parkway, its first toll project in Fredericksburg VA, on the southwest fringe of the Washington DC metro area.

FHWA administrator Victor Mendez has granted Virginia conditional approval to develop a detailed proposal for tolling VA/I-95 to support reconstruction and rehabilitation.

Virginia and federal officials are discussing a US Government permit for tolls along the length of I-95 from the Potomac River in Alexandria south to the North Carolina border. A preliminary application was submitted by Virginia in January for tolls on VA/I-95 under the Interstate Reconstruction and Rehabilitation pilot program.

The Providence Journal reports that Rhode Island DOT are not discouraged from plans for tolling I-95 in that state by remarks from US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. Dana Nolfe chief spokesman for the DOT said Governor Chafee's plan fits the reconstruction provisions of current law on tolling the interstates.

Virginia secretary of transportation Sean Connaughton says the state is abandoning most of the inside-the-Beltway portion of the I-95/I-395 HOT lanes project. What he calls a new I-95 HOT lanes project will go some 27 miles, 43km south to VA610 in Stafford County. A 2 mile, 3km stub will go just inside the Beltway to Edsall Rd. The rest of the I-395 project, some six miles, 10km to the Pentagon and the 14th Street Potomac River bridges is dead.

Toll express lanes on I-95 north of Miami are described as "very impressive" and as "accomplishing almost everything that was hoped for them" and as "very close to forecast" by Robert (Bob) Poole.

A consultants study of upgrade options for the I-95 toll plaza at Perryville in northeast Maryland has suggested going to three lanes of open road tolling plus seven or eight stop-to-pay/cash toll lanes, or else jumping right to all-electronic tolling (AET).

Delaware has issued a strong warning to holiday season motorists telling them use of the Turnpike (I-95) could be a mistake. The Turnpike's Newark toll plaza could be a worse than usual source of delays, they warn.