CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Drivers are sharing their frustrations after tolling began in March for the Interstate 64 express lanes from Norfolk to Chesapeake.
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) leaders say the express lanes are to improve travel times and congestion for over 21 miles on I-64. The new tolls are part of a larger project to connect Hampton Roads.
In a statement to 13News Now, a VDOT spokesperson said as traffic increases in the lanes, tolls go up to reduce the number of non-HOV vehicles to maintain a reliable trip time. Decreased traffic in the express lanes leads to reduced toll prices.
"This is designed to help manage congestion and improve traffic flow in both the general purpose and Express Lanes," the spokesperson wrote, referring to the dynamic pricing algorithm that VDOT utilizes.
VDOT said the non-HOV toll prices are based on current traffic conditions and adjust about every five minutes. But the inconsistent pricing has people questioning if it's useful, with some drivers calling the tolls predatory.
"$5 or $6 just to drive 5 miles down the expressway is ridiculous," said Jared Davidson from Chesapeake.
One driver told 13News Now this wasn’t what she thought the years of construction would lead to.
"We have to pay for something that we thought was going to benefit us, it's really not," said Alicia G. "I thought that was gonna be a through light, three-way lane you know to make traffic flow a little bit more."
On Tuesday, a crash on I-64's reversible express lanes near Tidewater Drive required those lanes to be closed around 6:20 a.m. But because of other interstate crashes, VDOT said the closure wasn't immediate and people continued to enter the express lanes, causing tolls to jump.
"Based on crash-related congestion in the Norfolk Reversible Express Lanes, the toll rate increased to $15," the VDOT spokesperson wrote.
According to the spokesperson, because of the lack of reliable travel time due to the crash, VDOT won't charge tolls incurred between 5:45 and 9:40 a.m. Tuesday.
"Any toll that may have posted to a customer's E-ZPass account for this period will be correct to $0.00," the spokesperson said.
This tolling is 24 hours a day, seven days a week. People need an E-Z pass transponder for all vehicles using these lanes. It's free for two or more people in one car with an E-Z pass flex transponder switched to HOV-On.
The Express Lanes will eventually become a part of a 45-mile express lanes network on I-64 from the Bowers Hill interchange in Chesapeake to Denbigh Boulevard in Newport News.