Maryland, Virginia Plan Study on Toll Lanes Near D.C.

aryland and Virginia plan to study adding express toll lanes to Interstate 95 and 495 around Washington, also known as the Capital Beltway, the Washington Post reported Thursday.

Maryland will study on adding toll lanes to 14 miles of the Beltway’s western side, leading to Interstate 270, while Virginia will study adding 14 miles on the southern side, from the I-95 connection at the southern part of the Beltway east to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, which crosses the Potomac River, the Post said.

Officials said that combined with a plan already under study to add toll lanes between the two new areas to be studied, the three stretches could bring express lanes to about half of the 64-mile Beltway, the paper reported in a front-page story.

The states could then turn over the construction to private companies to speed construction, the Post reported.

The "high-occupancy toll" lanes being planned in Virginia are scheduled to open in 2010 and will not be open to trucks.

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