Trucker Tim Chelette has been making the same twice-daily drive for 16 years. He hauls barrels from Kentucky to Tennessee. Yet his workday keeps getting longer, thanks to bottlenecked Nashville traffic. Now so-called price-managed lanes may allow some drivers to dodge congestion—for a fee.
Price-managed lanes are different from traditional toll plazas. Instead of requiring every vehicle that passes through to pay a fee, price-managed lanes allow certain drivers to pay in order to avoid congestion. The fee usually increases as the traffic does.
Of the 50 United States, 14 don’t have tolls on any roads. Currently, Tennessee is one of those. However, even if the price-managed lanes come to Music City, trucks wouldn’t be eligible for the pay-to-use express lanes. Chelette supports them anyway. He thinks enough drivers in the fast-growing state capital would use them to help everyone.
“They’re going to have to do something,” says Chelette. He gets paid by distance, not time—even when his 245-mile return trip grows by an hour or more during afternoon rush. “When I get stuck in traffic, I lose money,” he laments.
Price-managed lanes are found across the South in Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia, as well as in states such as California, Colorado, Washington, and Minnesota.
Supporters say the lanes are a way to pay for roads without raising taxes. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee calls them “choice lanes.”
But opponents call them “Lexus lanes.” The nickname implies that only drivers of expensive cars can afford to use them.
The marketing of the proposal is important, especially in the South. Voters there have long resisted anything resembling a tax hike. But with monies needed to repair aging highways or build more roads to reduce congestion, the projects are winning favor.
“All you’re doing is allowing those wealthy enough to use those lanes a quicker ride to work,” says Terri Hall, founder and director of Texans for Toll-free Highways. “It’s like a scapegoat for state legislatures to say, ‘We solved the problem.’ No, you kicked the can down the road.”
Lee seeks state government support to authorize a public-private partnership for the toll project in Tennessee. A recent study reveals a $34 billion price tag to correct road issues there.
Tennessee Senator Frank Niceley expects Lee will get enough votes to pass the plan. But he’s against the partnership with a private company. “We’re kind of co-signing the note,” Niceley says. “And most people who co-sign the note end up paying the note.”
Lee’s administration brushes off such criticism. Will Reid, chief engineer and deputy commissioner at the Tennessee Department of Transportation, says the state is positioned to establish a partnership that avoids the financial pitfalls seen elsewhere.
“We’re one of six no-debt states,” Reid says. “We own every piece of pavement. We own every bridge. We have a strong belief in paying as we go and paying for the things we decide to build.”
That’s a strong plan for a state—and for an individual. The Bible says: “Owe no one anything, except to love each other.” (Romans 13:8)
In the United States, it typically takes about 15 years for a road project to open after winning approval. Tennessee officials are determined to cut that in half.
Reid says, “One thing is certain—in order to keep pace with the demands on our infrastructure in Tennessee, we’re going to have to find a different way to generate revenue.”
(Signs mark a High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane on Interstate 65 in Nashville, Tennessee. Andrew Nelles/The Tennessean via AP)
