CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Drivers in Chesapeake could soon notice higher toll rates after a close City Council vote Tuesday. Council voted 5-4 to approve changes to two tolled roads within the Chesapeake Transportation System: the Chesapeake Expressway and the Dominion Boulevard Veterans Bridge. Mayor Rick West, Vice Mayor Debbie Ritter, and council members Jeff Bunn, Jeff Jefferies, and Les Smith voted in favor of the toll increases, while council members Ella Ward, Amanda Newins, Dr. Patricia King, and Daniel Whitaker voted against.
For the Chesapeake Expressway, annual fees for E-ZPass users who are enrolled in the Discount Toll Program at the Chesapeake Expressway will double from $35 to $70. To join the
Chesapeake Expressway Discount Program, the only qualifications that need to be met are having a valid Virginia E-ZPass account and paying the membership fee. There are no residency or income requirements for this program.
Discount program users will also pay more on peak summer weekends, going from $1.00 to $2.25 per trip. Those peak weekends cover 17 Saturdays and Sundays from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend. Those changes take effect May 1.
On the Dominion Boulevard Veterans Bridge, drivers of two-axle cars who pay by plate — instead of using E-ZPass — will see an 8-cent increase, bringing their toll from $3.55 to $3.63. For more information on toll rates on the Dominion Boulevard Veterans Bridge for other vehicles, click here.
E-ZPass rates on Dominion Boulevard are not changing, and roughly 85% of drivers on that road use E-ZPass. Those changes take effect July 1.
Mary Rice, a Hampton Roads realtor who says she spends much of her workday driving across Chesapeake, tells News 3 that she's concerned about the increases.
"Over half of my day is spent going to appointments in different cities and meeting people, checking on listings, showing homes, going to home inspections," she said.
Chesapeake Neighborhood News Reporter Erin Holly asked Chesapeake Mayor Rick West why the increases are being implemented. He says the changes are necessary to cover the costs of maintaining the roads and paying back borrowed money used to build them.
"For every road, there's always a maintenance cost. And for these roads, the city borrowed money and they have to pay those loans back and so that's why the increase," West said.
For neighbors who use these roads daily, like Rice, every cent counts.
"I feel like a lot of families feel nickel and dimed in this economy, and so that's just one more expense that might not seem large, but it all really adds up," she said.
Standard toll rates on the Chesapeake Expressway are not changing, and the overall Chesapeake Transportation System toll rate schedule has been extended through 2046.
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