Toll lanes considered to fund I-15 project

Take two lanes of I-15, toll them, and only allow motorists with three or more passengers to use the lanes for free.

The result: Toll revenues could pay for up to 13 percent of the estimated $3 billion to rebuild I-15 in Utah County.

The idea was discussed Friday as the Utah Department of Transportation presented a study to the state Transportation Commission that listed different ways to pay for reconstruction of I-15 with tolls. The study was done at the commission's request, but no action was taken on the topic.

Merrill Jolley, project manager for a UDOT study of I-15, said that it would take some "pretty big steps" on the part of UDOT before tolls would be implemented on more than two lanes of I-15. Last September, the agency began charging $50 a month to solo drivers who use the freeway's car-pool, or "express," lane.

But federal law prohibits a state from charging tolls on an "existing" highway or lane. In other words, the car-pool lanes on I-15 could be tolled because they are new additions to the highway. Tolling another lane on I-15 — if it wasn't newly built — would be against the law.

"I guess the conclusion is, in order to create a (toll) facility that generates revenue, there would have to be some pretty bold changes in the way we operate I-15," Merrill said.

He recommended that the state continue to operate the express lanes on I-15 like it does right now. For anything to happen with the I-15 study, the state Transportation Commission must take action, he said. By law, the commission is the only entity, other than the Legislature, that can decide whether to toll a state road or not.

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E-mail: nwarburton@desnews.com