Wyoming Legislators Consider Tolling I-80
Adding Tolls to 400-Mile Stretch Would Fund Highways
This story appears in the June 22 print edition of Transport Topics.
Wyoming legislators are considering a highway funding plan that could cost trucks more than $100 in tolls to run the full 400 miles across the state on Interstate 80.
Tolling I-80 is among the options contained in a consultant鈥檚 report the state commissioned last year, seeking ways to fund transportation maintenance and investment.
A series of public meetings on the consultant鈥檚 report was held around the state recently by the Wyoming Department of Transportation.
Members of the trucking industry were on hand at each meeting to voice opposition to tolling existing highways, said Sheila Foertsch, managing director of the Wyoming Trucking Association.
鈥淎nd tolling is one of the options,鈥 Foertsch said. 鈥淚t may not be feasible, and it may not be viable, and it certainly isn鈥檛 something we support, but it does need to be on the table when it comes time for the legislators to discuss how are we going to fund, and if we鈥檙e not going to toll, then what is our other option out there?鈥
WYDOT is making a good-faith effort to put all the funding options on the table in the consultant鈥檚 report, Foertsch said. The report also said tolling both cars and trucks on the interstate was an option.
According to an Associated Press report, however, state Sen. Michael Von Flatern (R), co-chairman of the joint transportation committee, said the committee is leaning toward tolls only for trucks.
The interstate carries about 13,000 vehicles a day through the state, about half of which are heavy trucks.
Wyoming would need federal approval to institute tolls on I-80, however, and last year, the federal government turned down Pennsylvania鈥檚 bid to impose tolls on the Keystone State鈥檚 stretch of I-80.
Another option for raising transportation funding would be to increase the state鈥檚 14-cent tax on diesel and gasoline, one of the lowest in the country.
In the past, Foertsch said, truckers in Wyoming have supported increases in the fuel tax as long as the money was dedicated to the highway fund.
She added, however, that there appears to be little public 鈥渁ppetite鈥 for increased fuel taxes.
The consultant鈥檚 final report, due in the fall, will include some of the findings from the recent public meetings, Foertsch said.
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