Study looks at adding tolls to S.R. 50, 436, other major roads

A $500,000 study will look at whether such main roads should carry tolls, both to ease congestion and raise cash for transportation improvements.

Could State Roads 50 and 436 become the next pay-to-ride stretches of pavement?

Metro Orlando has nearly 260 miles of toll roads, and more are on the way, including Interstate 4 and the Wekiva Parkway.

"I'm not going to say that is what's going to happen. That's one of the possibilities," said Eric Hill, who is overseeing the study. He is director of systems management and operations at MetroPlan Orlando, which sets transportation policy in Orange, Seminole and Osceola counties.

The review — expected to take 18 months — also is taking a hard look at "value pricing," which is another way of describing tolls that go up and down depending on how busy the road is. The greater the traffic, the higher the fee.

Is that any way to treat the motoring public?

"We are tolled to death in this town," said John Stolz, a 64-year-old radio ad salesman who puts 25,000 miles a year on his car in Central Florida.

Stolz does not want to pay any more tolls anywhere, especially on I-4 or any other high-volume road.

And he does not support the concept of charging people more to drive during the peak morning and evening rush hours, which is set to happen with four toll lanes being added to I-4.

"To do something like that, I think, is just crazy," he said. "Why penalize people?"

But economist Mark Soskin says "it's just absurd" that leaders are not using variable tolling all over Central Florida.

Soskin, an associate professor at the University of Central Florida, maintains varied tolls would be the best way to improve traffic flow because they would push motorists to use roads during off hours.

That would equate to extra capacity with no new construction, he said. Of course, to make it work, businesses would have to adopt more flexible hours for employees, allowing them to come in later or earlier.

But Soskin said there appears to be a lot of opposition to variable tolling, particularly at the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority, which owns and operates 109 miles of toll roads.

"A lot of people would rather wait at six [traffic] lights than pay the equivalent of a gallon of gas," he said.

Authority spokeswoman Michelle Maikisch confirmed agency officials have no interest in adopting variable tolls because their roads rarely are backed up.

In fact, the authority likely would add lanes before it would tinker with rates, she said. Right now, all agency roads are rated a high B for traffic flow, meaning congestion is rare.