Toll on Va. expressway to Outer Banks tripling

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (AP) — Millions of tourists making their way to North Carolina's Outer Banks will soon pay more to drive through Virginia to get there.

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The toll on the 16-mile Chesapeake Expressway is tripling to $6 each way on summer weekends starting Sunday. The expressway is the primary route tourists visiting the Outer Banks from Richmond, Washington, D.C., and the Northeast take. It extends from Interstate 64 to the North Carolina border.

Chesapeake officials say the fare hike is necessary to maintain the 10-year-old road and pay off the loans the city took out to build it.

Tourism leaders in North Carolina's beach communities say the hike is too much, too soon. Many in the Outer Banks are telling visitors how to avoid paying by taking the last exit before the toll station.

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