Package Of Toll Increases Wins Final OK From State Agency

Transportation authority restores interchange on I-95

The Maryland Transportation Authority gave final approval Thursday to the largest package of toll increases in the state's history, which will double the cost of a round trip through the Baltimore harbor crossings to $8 by July 2013.

In another move, the agency also decided to move forward with a Baltimore County interchange it had previously eliminated from its $1 billion project to add express toll lanes to Interstate 95 in the White Marsh area. Officials said the restoration of the interchange at Route 43 was not related to the toll increase.

The unanimous vote on the tolls raises the cost of using all seven state toll facilities with fixed rates. The tolls for the Key Bridge, Fort McHenry Tunnel and Harbor Tunnel — now $2, collected both ways — will rise to $3 on Nov. 1 and to $4 in July 2013.

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