At the request of the Federal Highway Administration, the planning board also studied the impact of placing tolls on the existing lanes of five capital-region parkways, including the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.
Kirby said the Council of Governments found that adding tolls to existing facilities could raise a lot of revenue. For instance, he said, the study found some motorists might be willing to pay $10 to $15 for a congestion-free ride the length of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.
However, Kirby added, such a change carries the risk of public outrage over having to pay for something that once was free. "As a political reality, it has been a total nonstarter in the United States,' he said.
Porcari explicitly ruled out any such moves on Maryland highways. "We have no plans to put tolls on existing lanes anywhere in the state," he said.
The use of tolls to finance increased capacity remains on the table - but not a certainty - for Interstate 270 between Montgomery County and Frederick, parts of the Capital Beltway and Route 5 in Prince George's County. The Maryland Transportation Authority is actively studying the possibility of adding express toll lanes to the segment of I-95 northeast of the current construction - roughly from White Marsh to Aberdeen - and won't rule out tolling new lanes between Aberdeen and the Delaware line.
State highway Administrator Neil J. Pedersen said a study of tolls on the Baltimore Beltway never got off the ground. Nor is Maryland studying tolls on the long stretch of the Capital Beltway between Camp Springs and Bethesda.
"The concept of tolls as a congestion management tool is something that needs to be looked at as an option," Pedersen said. "It is clearly not the right solution everywhere."
Pedersen noted that toll financing of highway projects has powerful support from the Bush administration. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, in particular, has argued that the federal government should shift from a reliance on motor fuel taxes to a "direct pricing" model that could include tolls on existing highways.
With President Bush in his final months in office, the results of November's election could end that support or reinforce it.
"To some extent, where Maryland heads with this is going to depend on where the federal policy ends up," Pedersen said.
where you'll pay
In the Baltimore area:
I-95 from just south of I-895 north to New Forge Road will become express toll lanes in 2012. One proposal would someday extend that northeast to just beyond Aberdeen.
Elsewhere in Md. and Va.:
Three planned toll roads are scheduled to open between 2011 and 2016, including the Intercounty Connector north of Washington, D.C., and stretches of Interstates 495, 395 and 95 west and south of the district. Several other locations in the area are also under consideration.
See toll-road map, pg 13
