"If you ask people, 'Do you support tolling 422?' they will likely say no," said Leo Bagley, Montgomery County's chief traffic planner. "But if you ask them, 'Would you support tolling 422 to fund all these improvements?' they're more likely to consider it."
The DVRPC launched its 422plus website last month to promote the proposal - the result of a $625,000 study funded by the U.S. and Pennsylvania Departments of Transportation and Montgomery, Chester, and Berks Counties.
While it lays out a plan to relieve traffic congestion, many of its details remain undetermined - and whatever is finally proposed would require approval of county and state governments.
But the January report is expected to propose a toll of 11 cents a mile. For vehicles with E-ZPass, the fees would be recorded by overhead transponders at four locations. Drivers without E-ZPass would be billed through photos of their license plates.
Traveling the length of the state highway, which runs from King of Prussia past Pottstown to Reading, could cost up to $2.75 one way, according to planners.
All of the revenue would be devoted to 422-corridor projects.
If granted legislative approval, the project would become the first locally managed highway toll system of its kind in Pennsylvania. And it could mean the difference between completing proposed improvements in 10 years versus the 30 expected should planners wait on state funding, said Eric Fray, vice president for Michael Baker Jr., the consulting firm hired to conduct the tolling study.
"Something needs to be done," he said. "State and federal transportation money has all dried up. This is one of the only options out there."
