Editing Interstate Highway System (section)

==Financing==
[[File:787NorthEnd.JPG|thumb|[[Interstate 787|I‑787]] in [[Watervliet, New York|Watervliet]], New York, showing the exit&nbsp;8 [[diamond interchange]]]]

Interstate Highways and their rights-of-way are owned by the state in which they were built. The last federally owned portion of the Interstate System was the [[Woodrow Wilson Bridge]] on the [[Interstate 495 (Capital Beltway)|Washington Capital Beltway]]. The new bridge was completed in 2009 and is collectively owned by Virginia and Maryland.<ref>{{cite web |author = Federal Highway Administration |date = n.d. |publisher = Federal Highway Administration |title = Interstate FAQ: Who owns it? |url = https://highways.dot.gov/highway-history/interstate-system/50th-anniversary/interstate-frequently-asked-questions |access-date = March 4, 2009 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130507121442/http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/interstate/faq.htm#question5 |archive-date = May 7, 2013 |url-status = live }}</ref> Maintenance is generally the responsibility of the state department of transportation. However, there are some segments of Interstate owned and maintained by local authorities.

===Taxes and user fees===

About 70&nbsp;percent of the construction and maintenance costs of Interstate Highways in the United States have been paid through user fees, primarily the [[fuel tax]]es collected by the federal, state, and local governments. To a much lesser extent they have been paid for by tolls collected on [[toll highway]]s and bridges. The federal gasoline tax was first imposed in 1932 at one cent per gallon; during the Eisenhower administration, the [[Highway Trust Fund]], established by the Highway Revenue Act in 1956, prescribed a three-cent-per-gallon fuel tax, soon increased to 4.5&nbsp;cents per gallon. Since 1993 the tax has remained at 18.4&nbsp;cents per gallon.<ref name="FHWA">{{cite web |last = Weingroff |first = Richard M. |title = When did the Federal Government begin collecting the gas tax? |url = https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/gastax.cfm |work = Ask the Rambler |publisher = Federal Highway Administration |access-date = June 29, 2011 |date = April 7, 2011 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130703022304/https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/gastax.cfm |archive-date = July 3, 2013 |url-status = live }}</ref> Other excise taxes related to highway travel also accumulated in the Highway Trust Fund.<ref name="FHWA" /> Initially, that fund was sufficient for the federal portion of building the Interstate system, built in the early years with "10 cent dollars", from the perspective of the states, as the federal government paid 90% of the costs while the state paid 10%. The system grew more rapidly than the rate of the taxes on fuel and other aspects of driving (e. g., excise tax on tires).

The rest of the costs of these highways are borne by general fund receipts, bond issues, designated property taxes, and other taxes. The federal contribution is funded primarily through [[fuel tax]]es and through transfers from the Treasury's general fund.<ref name=ShirleyCBO /> Local government contributions are overwhelmingly from sources besides user fees.<ref>{{cite web |author = Federal Highway Administration |url = https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/statistics/2007/hf10.cfm |work = Highway Statistics 2007 |publisher = Federal Highway Administration |title = Funding For Highways and Disposition of Highway-User Revenues, All Units of Government, 2007 |date = January 3, 2012 |access-date = March 10, 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130117104528/http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/statistics/2007/hf10.cfm |archive-date = January 17, 2013 |url-status = live }}</ref> As decades passed in the 20th century and into the 21st century, the portion of the user fees spent on highways themselves covers about 57&nbsp;percent of their costs, with about one-sixth of the user fees being sent to other programs, including the [[mass transit system]]s in large cities. Some large sections of Interstate Highways that were planned or constructed before 1956 are still operated as toll roads, for example the [[Massachusetts Turnpike]] (I-90), the [[New York State Thruway]] (I-87 and I-90), and [[Kansas Turnpike]] (I-35, I-335, I-470, I-70). Others have had their construction bonds paid off and they have become toll-free, such as the [[Connecticut Turnpike]] (I‑95, I-395), the [[Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike]] in Virginia (also I‑95), and the [[Interstate 65 in Kentucky#Kentucky Turnpike|Kentucky Turnpike]] (I‑65).

[[File:Bird's Eye 75 (31948398834).jpg|thumb|upright=0.667|A view of I-75 in Atlanta, Georgia, featuring [[HOV lane]]s running alongside the median]]
As American suburbs have expanded, the costs incurred in maintaining freeway infrastructure have also grown, leaving little in the way of funds for new Interstate construction.<ref>{{Cite news |last = Field |first = David |title = On 40th birthday, Interstates Face Expensive Midlife Crisis |work = Insight on the News |date = July 29, 1996 |pages = 40–42 |issn = 1051-4880 }}</ref> This has led to the proliferation of toll roads (turnpikes) as the new method of building limited-access highways in suburban areas. Some Interstates are privately maintained (for example, the VMS company maintains I‑35 in Texas)<ref name="vmsom">{{cite web |author = VMS, Inc. |date = n.d. |url = http://www.vmsom.com/projectsoverviewbytype.shtm#Interstates |title = Projects by Type: Interstates |access-date = January 10, 2008 |publisher = VMS, Inc. |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070922220101/http://www.vmsom.com/projectsoverviewbytype.shtm |archive-date = September 22, 2007 }}</ref> to meet rising costs of maintenance and allow state departments of transportation to focus on serving the fastest-growing regions in their states.

Parts of the Interstate System might have to be tolled in the future to meet maintenance and expansion demands, as has been done with adding toll [[High-occupancy vehicle lane|HOV]]/[[High-occupancy toll lane|HOT lanes]] in cities such as [[Atlanta]], [[Dallas]], and [[Los Angeles]].<!--This is not an exhaustive list, so additional examples are not needed, thanks.--> Although part of the tolling is an effect of the [[SAFETEA‑LU]] act, which has put an emphasis on toll roads as a means to reduce congestion,<ref name="cobbrides">{{cite web |url = http://www.cobbrides.com/pdfs/1st%20toll%20project%20proposed%20for%20I.pdf |title = 1st Toll Project Proposed for I-20 East: Plan Would Add Lanes Outside I-285 |first = Ariel |last = Hart |work = [[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]] |date = July 19, 2007 |access-date = September 27, 2007 |issn = 1539-7459 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071025045622/http://www.cobbrides.com/pdfs/1st%20toll%20project%20proposed%20for%20I.pdf |archive-date = October 25, 2007 }}</ref><ref name="atlanta_hov_future">{{cite web |url = http://www.dot.state.ga.us/preconstruction/consultantdesign/design/Future%20of%20HOV%20in%20Atlanta.pdf |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071025045621/http://www.dot.state.ga.us/preconstruction/consultantdesign/design/Future%20of%20HOV%20in%20Atlanta.pdf |url-status = dead |archive-date = October 25, 2007 |title = Future of HOV in Atlanta |first = Darryl D. |last = VanMeter |access-date = September 27, 2007 |publisher = American Society of Highway Engineers |date = October 28, 2005 }}</ref> present federal law does not allow for a state to change a freeway section to a tolled section for all traffic.{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}

===Tolls===
{{Category see also|Tolled sections of Interstate Highways}}
[[File:2022-07-31 12 16 28 View west along Interstate 76 (Pennsylvania Turnpike Philadelphia Extension) just west of Exit 320 in Charlestown Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania.jpg|thumb|right|An [[Interstate 76 (Ohio–New Jersey)|I-76]] trailblazer along the [[Pennsylvania Turnpike]] with the black-on-yellow "Toll" sign]]

About {{convert|2,900|mi|km}} of toll roads are included in the Interstate Highway System.<ref>{{cite web |first = Martin H. |last = Weiss |date = April 7, 2011 |url = https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/highwayhistory/howmany.cfm |title = How Many Interstate Programs Were There? |work = Highway History |publisher = Federal Highway Administration |access-date = March 10, 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130607213511/http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/highwayhistory/howmany.cfm |archive-date = June 7, 2013 |url-status = live }}</ref> While federal legislation initially banned the collection of tolls on Interstates, many of the toll roads on the system were either completed or under construction when the Interstate Highway System was established. Since these highways provided logical connections to other parts of the system, they were designated as Interstate highways. [[United States Congress|Congress]] also decided that it was too costly to either build toll-free Interstates parallel to these toll roads, or directly repay all the bondholders who financed these facilities and remove the tolls. Thus, these toll roads were [[Grandfather clause|grandfathered]] into the Interstate Highway System.<ref>{{cite web |last = Weingroff |first = Richard F. |date = August 2, 2011 |url = https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/tollroad.cfm |title = Why Does The Interstate System Include Toll Facilities? |work = Ask the Rambler |publisher = Federal Highway Administration |access-date = March 10, 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130518082124/http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/tollroad.cfm |archive-date = May 18, 2013 |url-status = live }}</ref>

Toll roads designated as Interstates (such as the [[Massachusetts Turnpike]]) were typically allowed to continue collecting tolls, but are generally ineligible to receive federal funds for maintenance and improvements. Some toll roads that did receive federal funds to finance emergency repairs (notably the [[Connecticut Turnpike]] (I-95) following the [[Mianus River Bridge]] collapse) were required to remove tolls as soon as the highway's construction bonds were paid off. In addition, these toll facilities were grandfathered from [[Interstate Highway standards]]. A notable example is the western approach to the [[Benjamin Franklin Bridge]] in [[Philadelphia]], where [[Interstate 676|I-676]] has a surface street section through a historic area.

Policies on toll facilities and Interstate Highways have since changed. The [[Federal Highway Administration]] has allowed some states to collect tolls on existing Interstate Highways, while a recent extension of [[Interstate 376|I-376]] included a section of [[Pennsylvania Route&nbsp;60]] that was tolled by the [[Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission]] before receiving Interstate designation. Also, newer toll facilities (like the tolled section of I-376, which was built in the early 1990s) must conform to Interstate standards. A new addition of the ''[[Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices]]'' in 2009 requires a black-on-yellow "Toll" sign to be placed above the Interstate trailblazer on Interstate Highways that collect tolls.<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url = https://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/shsm_interim/index.htm |chapter = Interim Releases for New and Revised Signs |publisher = Federal Highway Administration |date = November 16, 2011 |title = Standard Highway Signs and Markings |access-date = March 10, 2012 |author = Federal Highway Administration |archive-date = March 18, 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120318045005/http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/shsm_interim/index.htm |url-status = live }}</ref>

Legislation passed in 2005 known as [[SAFETEA-LU]] encouraged states to construct new Interstate Highways through "innovative financing" methods. SAFETEA-LU facilitated states to pursue innovative financing by easing the restrictions on building interstates as toll roads, either through state agencies or through [[public–private partnership]]s. However, SAFETEA-LU left in place a prohibition of installing tolls on existing toll-free Interstates, and states wishing to toll such routes to finance upgrades and repairs must first seek approval from Congress.  Many states have started using [[High-occupancy toll lane]] and other partial tolling methods, whereby certain lanes of highly congested freeways are tolled, while others are left free, allowing people to pay a fee to travel in less congested lanes.  Examples of recent projects to add HOT lanes to existing freeways include the [[Virginia HOT lanes]] on the Virginia portions of the [[Capital Beltway]] and other related interstate highways (I-95, I-495, I-395) and the addition of express toll lanes to [[Interstate 77 in North Carolina]] in the [[Charlotte metropolitan area]].

===Chargeable and non-chargeable Interstate routes===
Interstate Highways financed with federal funds are known as "chargeable" Interstate routes, and are considered part of the {{convert|42000|mi|km|adj=on}} network of highways. Federal laws also allow "non-chargeable" Interstate routes, highways funded similarly to state and US Highways to be signed as Interstates, if they both meet the Interstate Highway standards and are logical additions or connections to the system.<ref>{{usc|23|103(c)}}, Interstate System.</ref><ref>{{USPL|99|599|Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1978}}</ref> These additions fall under two categories: routes that already meet Interstate standards, and routes not yet upgraded to Interstate standards. Only routes that meet Interstate standards may be signed as Interstates once their proposed number is approved.<ref name="FHWA2">{{cite web |first = Tony |last = DeSimone |url = https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/national_highway_system/interstate_highway_system/routefinder/?redirect |title = FHWA Route Log and Finder List: Additional Designations |publisher = Federal Highway Administration |date = March 22, 2007 |access-date = January 4, 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140805032748/http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/reports/routefinder/#s06 |archive-date = August 5, 2014 |url-status = live }}</ref>