Update: Public hearings complete for proposed I-95 tolls

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - The State Department of Transportation says its given the public all the opportunities it will give to speak out about a plan to collect tolls on I-95.

About 200 people showed up for last night's final public comment meeting in Fayetteville.

Right now the DOT says its only funding for road improvements comes from the state gas tax and that the proposed toll plan would allow officials to invest in the major improvements I-95 needs.

People are still asking the DOT to find another way.

"My wallet and everyone else's, all the workers, everyone who commutes on 95. Not just me as an individual, but the bigger picture," commented Musheerah Ali, driver.

According to a study by the DOT, if the toll plan does go through, driving the entire length of the interstate in North Carolina would cost drivers about $19.20.

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ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. - Next time you go on that vacation up north or down south, it might be costing your more money to get there, and we're not talking about gas.

The NCDOT is looking in increase the number of lanes on I-95 in our state, a project estimated to be close to $4.5 billion dollars.

The state plans to recoup that money from new tolls on the highway and tonight they want your input.

People for the tolls say the funding will pay for improvements they say are necessary to the highway, while those against it say the tolls will keep people off the thoroughfare and onto side roads.

"Every mile or two there would be a toll, traffic would be backed up for miles, cars would be overheating, breaking down,” said Diane Malley, taking I-95 to Virginia.

Diane Malley remembers her experience with toll roads in New York.

"It was just terrible," she recounted.

But the NCDOT promises these tolls will be different.

"With this kind of toll system it's all electronic. You don't have to slow down, there's no bottlenecks you just ride right through like you normally would," explained Kristine O’Connor, I-95 Project Director.

She says I-95 hasn't undergone major improvements since it was built back in the ‘50s.

The proposed project would add one to two lanes at different portions of I-95 and cost billions of dollars, hence the need for tolls.

9 On Your Side asked O'Connor why North Carolina's notoriously high gas tax isn't enough to fund project.

"If you took every dollar that they got for road improvements and spent it just on I-95 it would still take you 60 years to make these improvements," she answered.

O'Connor says North Carolina's high gas tax is partly because the state has 80,000 miles of state funded roads, often times more than any other state in the nation.

Georgia, a state comparable in size to North Carolina, only having 18,000 miles.

"To make major improvements is not within the capacity of the fuel tax revenue, so that's why tolling is really the only option,” SAID O’Connor.

Malley says she's just glad she doesn't make the trip often.

"I wouldn't want to work at one end of the state line and have to pay that every day," said Malley.

The state will use something called toll gantries that capture your license plate and charge your toll bill to that.

There's also electronic devices that can go inside your car for a small fee.

O'Connor says if the project is passed, they'll being construction in 2019.