How’s this for a flim-flam? Roads that are paid for with gas taxes are supposed to be free. While roads that are paid for with tolls are, well, paid for at toll booths.

That’s the way it’s supposed to be. No tolls are charged on existing roads.

But it turns out the N.C. Turnpike Authority thinks taxpayers shouldn’t mind paying for the same road twice: once with their gas tax dollars and a second time at toll booths. And that’s what’s about to happen on a part of I-540 right here in Wake County.

The latest strip of I-540 to be built is paid for with gas tax dollars. But just before the Legislature adjourned the Turnpike Authority slipped a provision into a bill to make a part of that highway the only existing road in North Carolina that charges tolls. Turnpike Director David Joyner says, “This little section of I-540 brings $125 million to the table…”

All the Authority is waiting for to put up its first booth is approval from Wake County’s mayors. How much is the toll? It isn’t a quarter. It’s two dollars. Every time you drive down a highway you already paid for.

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