Tolls increase 25 cents, to $2.75 a trip, on Pocahontas Parkway

By Michael Martz

Published: January 6, 2009

Toll revenue is up, but traffic is down on the Pocahontas Parkway.

Tolls rose 25 cents, to $2.75 a trip, yesterday on the privately operated highway that crosses the James River between Chesterfield and Henrico counties.

The increase was the second of a two-part toll raise that began a year ago to help pay for the road and improvements, including a link under construction to Richmond International Airport.

Toll-road officials say traffic was normal yesterday, but fewer vehicles are traveling the highway than a year ago because of higher tolls and a sagging economy. Vehicle trips fell about 9.4 percent in the third quarter of 2008, even though revenue increased 4.7 percent from the same period in 2007, thanks to the first toll increase.

"We've slipped some, no doubt about it," said Andi Kuhn, director of Pocahontas 895, which operates the 8.8-mile highway as part of Transurban USA, the Australia-based company that bought the management rights to the toll road more than two years ago.

But Kuhn and state highway officials see a promising future for the highway, which provides a direct connection between Chippenham Parkway in Chesterfield and Interstate 295 in eastern Henrico near the airport.

"The transportation story is the road is doing exactly what it was intended to do," said Virginia Secretary of Transportation Pierce R. Homer.

Virginia agreed in 2006 to lease the highway for 99 years to Transurban, which refinanced the road's debt, relieved the state of maintenance responsibility, and paved the way for a $49.75 million connection road to the airport that went under construction last month.

The challenge for Pocahontas 895 has been to keep ridership high while finding the money to pay for the road, maintenance and improvements. In addition to breaking ground on the Airport Connector road last month, for example, the operator also installed a high-tech system for monitoring weather conditions on the high, arching bridge.

Tolls increased last January from $2.25 to $2.50 a trip under a schedule approved as part of the agreement with the state. Yesterday's increase to $2.75 was the second phase, with no more planned for two years. The toll is $1 higher per axle for vehicles with more than two.

Between 17,000 and 18,000 vehicles travel the road on an average weekday, compared with more than 19,000 a year ago.

Contact Michael Martz at (804) 649-6964 or .