Tolls on the Interstates (90, 294, etc) (Chicago, Worth: costs, legal, pay)

[hank0604]

Ok, so this has been bothering me for quite a while now, so I figure I'll ask for some input. How is it legal for the state to charge tolls on a highway that was built and paid for by federal funds?

I had never seen this before, and I have done a lot of driving all over the country. Sure, Texas had a lot of toll roads, but they were purpose built toll roads. Not existing roads that the state just dropped a tollbooth onto.

[Irishtom29]

The Illinois toll roads were toll roads from the get-go.

[hamiltonra25]

Because all the interstates need continual repairs, and updates. Not to mention new signs, toll booths, etc. Its not a cheap system to run. Drive an hour north and you will see that most Wisconsin tollways have very spaced out lighting. I wouldnt recommend it, but you could probably drive on I-90, 355, 290, 294 without your lights on. Sure you're going to hit pot holes, but overall most of the roadways are well maintained in the summer, and plowed in the winter.

[Superion2K9]

Wisconsin does not have toll roads. They have freeways, but not toll roads (you can look that up on an official Wisconsin road map for proof). Interstates can have tolls if the road started out as a tollway, but not after the fact, although there is a strong movement in Congress to change that rule.

Texas, by the way did have tolls on Interstates. I-30 between Dallas and Fort Worth was the DFW Tollway, but when the road was paid for in the mid 1970's, the tolls were lifted and it's been an interstate ever since.

[aragx6]

Originally Posted by Superion2K9

Interstates can have tolls if the road started out as a tollway, but not after the fact, although there is a strong movement in Congress to change that rule.

I don't know a lot about this issue, but this doesn't seem right to me. They've been talking for years about making I-70 through Missouri a tollway, but public support has always been lacking. Why would they even discuss it if they weren't allowed to do it?

[skipcromer]

Originally Posted by aragx6

I don't know a lot about this issue, but this doesn't seem right to me. They've been talking for years about making I-70 through Missouri a tollway, but public support has always been lacking. Why would they even discuss it if they weren't allowed to do it?

Ive never heard that discussion.

Have a link for it?

[aragx6]

They've talked about it for years. I found an article, but you have to pay for the Post-Dispatch's archives (I think an individual article costs an astounding $3.)

STLtoday - St. Louis Post-Dispatch Archives

[skipcromer]

Originally Posted by aragx6

They've talked about it for years. I found an article, but you have to pay for the Post-Dispatch's archives (I think an individual article costs an astounding $3.)

STLtoday - St. Louis Post-Dispatch Archives

The synopsis was enough, thank you.

For whatever reason I had never heard that before.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by hank0604

Ok, so this has been bothering me for quite a while now, so I figure I'll ask for some input. How is it legal for the state to charge tolls on a highway that was built and paid for by federal funds?

I had never seen this before, and I have done a lot of driving all over the country. Sure, Texas had a lot of toll roads, but they were purpose built toll roads. Not existing roads that the state just dropped a tollbooth onto.

Because only a portion of the interstate system is federally funded. The states pick up a large part of the tab as well. And Illinois certainly is not unique in having interstate tollways. There are at least a dozen other states that do so.

[Lookout Kid]

I think every tollway I've ever driven on has been an interstate, from Ilinois to Indiana to Ohio to Pennsylvania to New York to New Jersey to Massachusetts. The only toll roads I've driven on that weren't Interstates were bridges (like the Chicago Skyway or Tri-Borough Bridge for instance). Or tunnels.