Should drivers pay tolls on the Blue Ridge Parkway?
The Roanoke Times | File
Saturday Column Reprise
Note from Dan: While I’m on vacation, I’m treating your to some oldie-but-goodie columns from the past. This one appeared March 26, 2009. No tolls or other revenue-raising measures for maintenance on the Blue Ridge Parkway have been enacted since then. But the federal government is more strapped than ever.
If you’re in a hurry and you need to get from Clearbrook in southern Roanoke County to the eastern county section of Bonsack, there is exactly one quick and hassle-free road you want to take: the Blue Ridge Parkway.
So many Roanoke-area drivers have happily discovered this nifty National Park Service shortcut that it’s often swarming with rush-hour motorists. Some wags already call it the “Wal-Mart Expressway.”
Spend any weekday evening on that gorgeous blacktop ribbon and you’ll see what I mean. Long lines of hurrying-to-get-home commuters zip along at 50 to 60 mph or so, unimpeded by traffic lights, stop signs or typical traffic bottlenecks.
That’s one of the reasons it’s time to reconsider an idea floated but rebuffed in the past: tolls, or some sort of fee system, for parkway users who get a free ride now.
If you’re thinking, “That darn Casey is one of those infernal parkway bicyclists who doesn’t like all that traffic,” you’re partly right.
But what you may not know is that all those motorists are helping to wear out that beautiful road much faster than the National Park Service’s repaving budget can handle.
READ THE REST OF THIS COLUMN HERE.
December 29, 2012 - 6:00 AM
It seems that there might be a couple of possibilities to partially resolve this situation. One is a toll for users. That could be put in place along the entire length of the Parkway. A second is offered with a big smile on my face. The National Park Service could, sell sponsorships for segments of the Parkway. Why not, for example, take the name some wags have given that portion of the Parkway in the Roanoke area, and let WalMart pay for the name. I’m sure the Walton family would jump at the chance to name that portion of the road for the appropriate fee.
I would not be opposed to a fee for one time use or an annual pass. Every time we are in Monterey, we have no problem offering up the $10 to drive 17 Mile Drive in Pebble Beach. Granted the fee would certainly be less for the parkway, however I believe it could be managed properly.
Great. The government stole land from private owners to build the Parkway. Now they want to exact tolls to “fix” a situation of their own making?
I use the parkway but if I have to pay a toll for something that tax money is used for I will stop using it.
NC charges $25/week and $100/year to drive on its beaches. The fee serves both to decrease traffic, per don’s thought, as well as raise money from tourists to preserve the beaches. Maybe VA residents could be charged an annual fee for a sticker to be on the Parkway, and tourists at the state borders be assessed a toll.
Tolls on the Parkway?? Too much traffic?? Ridiculous.Ask the Peaks of Otter if they had too many customers , too much revenue, or long delays??This type of logic is like saying the Roanoke River Greenway expansion now has too many runners and bikers and is now crowded.So let’s consider a runners and bikers toll there as well.Maybe parents with strollers walking is an intrusion??
I did see quite a few deers last time I was on the Parkway and hopefully they are smart enough to know where the posted crossing signs are located.
The Koch brothers have a new target — Sandy victims:
“Earlier this week, AFP, which is chaired by Koch and believed to be financed by several other plutocrats from the New York City region, released a letter warning members of Congress not to vote for the proposed federal aid package for victims of the storm that swept New Jersey, New York City and much of the surrounding area in October.
Koch’s top deputy in New Jersey, a surly gentleman named Steve Lonegan, who heads the local AFP state chapter, called the aid package a “disgrace.” “This is not a federal government responsibility,” Lonegan told reporters. “We need to suck it up and be responsible for taking care of ourselves.”
Hear that, Staten Island, Coney Island and the Rockaways? Get out there and replace your own power poles and restring your own wires. Repave your own streets and rent your own backhoes to clear away your demolished neighborhoods. Suck it up. Easy for one of the world’s richest men to say.”
Read the article, Mike3. Commuters aren’t going to stop and eat at that restaurant. Tourists aren’t the issue.
g stick to the subject..its about tolls on the parkway dude…and no there should not be any toll. just another gov’t thought to get more money when they cant control their own spending.
@Kristen I read the article, please enlighten me on the issue I am apparently missing-thanks