The free ride’s over.
Starting Tuesday, drivers will have to start paying anywhere from 65 cents to $7.33 to use the new toll lanes on C-470 between Interstate 25 and Wadsworth Boulevard.
The cost depends on the time of day and whether a motorist has an ExpressToll pass. Unlike other toll lanes in the region, like on U.S. 36 between Denver and Boulder, there’s no free riding for cars with at least three people in them.
The Colorado Department of Transportation is planning to build toll lanes on most miles of freeway in the Denver metro as funding becomes available. Officials say they help keep control congestion by making free-moving travel more expensive.
Toll lanes also help raise revenue, an ever-important concern for the cash-strapped agency. Colorado’s gas tax of 22 cents per gallon hasn’t changed since 1991.
