MIAMI-DADE (CBSMiami) – Your SunPass will be working extra hard in 2014, if a plan to increase tolls on the Dolphin and Airport expressways goes through.
The plan would affect drivers on the two east-west highways, which link Interstate 95 to the airport. It is being proposed by the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority, the agency that runs five county toll roads, reports the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
That means drivers from Broward and Palm Beach counties who head to Miami International Airport or Marlins Park could pay more to get there.
The tolls would take effect in the summer of 2014, and then be indexed to inflation annually.
The plan aims to add tolls in new locations and eliminate toll booths on both roads by collecting tolls electronically.
The extra revenue would help fund more than $400 million in construction, including a new congestion-busting direct ramp to I-95 from Northwest 12th Avenue.
It would relieve a huge bottleneck that occurs as commuters who work in the Civic Center area pour onto the eastbound Dolphin, then have to merge across three lanes to make the current left-hand ramp to northbound I-95.
Other improvements include adding lanes to the Dolphin between Northwest 57th and 17th avenues, eliminating the left-hand exits at LeJeune Road. Construction would begin in 2015 and take about two years to complete.
Read the full article to learn how drivers are reacting to the idea.
(TM and © Copyright 2013 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel contributed to this report.)
