If tolls are imposed along Interstate 95, Cumberland County Commissioners want the people and companies who live and work along the corridor to get a discount. The state Department of Transportation has said its plan to widen and resurface I-95 throughout the state will attract businesses to nearby communities and improve their economies. Commissioner Jimmy Keefe told the county’s delegation of state legislators that he couldn’t see how charging residents of other counties money to use I-95 to come to work here would help the economy. “If they’re local, they ought to be able to buy a card at a reduced rate,” he said. State lawmakers at the meeting agreed. “It makes inordinately good sense, for all kinds of reasons, that locals should get a discount,” Rep. Rick Glazier, D-Cumberland, said. Rep. Elmer Floyd, D-Cumberland, said costs could be cut by keeping I-95 six lanes throughout the state. Rep. William Brisson, D-Bladen, agreed. “We have other things that are more important to this state than putting eight lines on I-95,” he said.
by Gregory Phillips
(THE FAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER)
4/24/12
