Arkansas Delays Decision on Tolls

LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Delaying a decision on seeking authority to charge tolls on interstates Wednesday gave the state Highway Commission breathing room with legislators at an important juncture in the search for highway funding.

Commission members, considering whether to apply for the federal program, received a draft plan to put booths on Interstates 30, 40 and 55.

"They did not act on anything. It was the first time they had seen it," Randy Ort, spokesman for the state Highway and Transportation Department spokesman, said. "They asked for time to look over it."

The panel has until the end of March to apply to the Federal Highway Administration.

Some lawmakers are worried that even the suggestion of tolls on interstates will sour Arkansans to any highway funding plan that requires voters' approval.

Highway officials already have had to fend off an attempt this session to strip the constitutionally independent panel of its authority to establish toll roads without legislative consent.

Gov. Mike Huckabee and the trucking industry also are against tolls.

Huckabee was to testify Thursday about his proposed $575 million bond issue and 3-cent diesel tax increase before a House committee.

The governor's plan to improve the worst interstate routes would require a public vote.