Governor Kim Reynolds is giving a thumbs down to the idea of charging motorists traveling on Interstate-80 a fee. “I don’t think Iowans are interested in tolls,” Reynolds said. “I have no interest in tolls.” Making Interstate-80 a toll road was listed by Iowa D-O-T officials as an option for financing expansion of the route. Representative Gary Carlson, a Republican from Muscatine, says as the D-O-T begins planning for the future, officials are “trying not to shut off any ideas.”

“So those types of things get brought up in those discussions,” he says, “but in the particular idea of putting a toll road on Interstate-80, I just don’t see that happening in my lifetime.” Carlson is chairman of the House Transportation Committee. He says due to congestion on Interstate-80, expanding the corridor from four-lanes to six-lanes through eastern Iowa is a “very real possibility.” But Carlson says using traffic tolls as collateral for loans to finance road construction isn’t working well in other states.

“Iowa’s road system has really been based on pay-as-you-go,” Carlson says. “I think that has been prudent and I don’t see really any directional change from that.” Senator Tod Bowman of Maquoketa is the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Transportation Committee. Bowman says placing toll booths along Interstate-80 is a non-starter in the legislature.

“I haven’t heard from any of my constituents that want that and so I’m not going to be supportive of it,” Bowman says. “And I don’t believe the DOT should be going in that direction.” Bowman says legislators might revisit the issue in the future if vehicles get so sophisticated that a toll could be charged automatically — but only to the out-of-state vehicles traveling through Iowa.

In an effort to calm the waters of outrage following the news Monday about the possibility of a future toll-way, the Iowa DOT took to social media, saying “A study is one thing, but when we look at the big picture and all the considerations that includes, the DOT does not intend to pursue tolling at this time.” They also gave a few reasons why:
• It doesn’t work well in our open, farm-to-market grid system and pushes traffic to roads that are not built for interstate traffic.
• It’s not authorized by state or federal law.
• It’s not consistent with our “pay as you go” approach to road and bridge funding.
• It’s not an option supported by industry groups or the public.

(Radio Iowa/KJAN)