Taking their tolls.

• Position: Eastern

If the 182 miles of Interstate 95 in North Carolina don't get $4.4 billion of upgrades, the eight counties the aged superhighway cuts through could lose almost 10 times that amount in economic output over the next four decades. But local business leaders say the most logical way to cover the bill--tolling--would do more harm than good. Built between 1956 and 1980, the mostly four-lane highway has received few upgrades and needs more lanes, improved interchanges and better bridges. The state Department of Transportation first floated the idea of charging tolls last year, but that option was met with public outcry. In May, a consultant's report to NCDOT asserting that tolling makes the most economic sense stirred the pot again. The state House of Representatives took a stance that same month, passing a measure that would only allow them on new lanes.

Opponents say tolls "double tax" drivers who have already paid the state's hefty gas levy and divert traffic onto roads without them. More than 30 local governments, chambers of commerce and other boards have passed resolutions opposing them on I-95. "We build our business model on a free and unencumbered interstate," says Ernie Brame, chairman of No Tolls I-95 Coalition and general manager of Kenly 95 Petro, a truck stop off the interstate in Johnston County. "I...