Pocahontas Parkway tolls to increase again Jan. 3
Table of Contents
Tolls on the Pocahontas Parkway will increase for the second time in less than a year and the third time in two years Jan. 3.
Tolls for two-axle vehicles will rise from $4.15 per trip to $4.30 per trip at the Main Plaza, while tolls will go up 10 cents to $2.45 at the Laburnum/New Market and Airport Drive ramp tolls points.
Vehicles with multiple axles – trucks and passenger cars hauling trailers – pay an additional surcharge depending on the number of axles, up to a maximum of six.
When the new rates are implemented, tolls at the Main Plaza will have risen 32 percent in two years, while tolls at the secondary toll points will have risen 63 percent during the same period.
The parkway previously raised tolls March 13 – from $4 to $4.15 for two-axle vehicles at the Main Plaza and from $2.25 to $2.35 at the Laburnum and Airport toll points. Prior to that, it raised rates from $3.25 to $4 at the Main Plaza in January 2016 and from $1.50 to $2.25 at the secondary locations.
The toll increase is in accordance with the applicable schedule of permitted toll increases approved by the Virginia Department of Transportation in 2006.
Pocahontas Parkway receives no state or federal financial support and is dependent upon toll revenues for all operations, maintenance and financing costs. Increased toll revenue will go toward operations and maintenance of the road, according to the road's owners – Pocahontas Parkway Operations, LLC – and to pay for the cost of financing the road. A major resurfacing of the highway was completed earlier this fall, and a complete replacement of the automatic tolling system is currently being conducted. That change should result in a smoother ride and improved service for drivers, officials said in a statement.
Those traveling on Pocahontas Parkway pay either the Main Plaza price or the lower price at a ramp toll point, but never both during a single trip. The price paid depends on the individual trip. The higher price is charged to customers who pass through the Main Plaza and cross the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge over the James River. The lower price charged to customers who do not pass through the Main Plaza on a trip between a ramp toll point and Interstate 295.
