An amendment proposed this week to a bill first written in December would levy a toll for drivers crossing Lake Marion on Interstate 95 between Clarendon and Orangeburg counties.
Proposed by Sens. Kevin Johnson, D-Manning, Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, Dick Harpootlian, D-Columbia and Sandy Senn, R-Charleston, the amendment, if passed with the bill, would direct the state Department of Transportation to implement a plan to toll drivers at the specified area on Interstate 95.
Johnson has been open throughout his time in office about his belief in a toll on Interstate 95.
"We have drivers from all over the country come through that area, and it's wear and tear on the roads," Johnson said in 2016. "Why not charge them some small amount to use for the repair of the road."
Johnson has also theorized that monies collected from the toll could be used to build a safer crossing at Lake Marion. He said in 2016 that any wording of any bill or amendment proposing a toll could exempt riders native to Clarendon and Orangeburg counties - or even all South Carolinians from the toll.
South Carolina currently has two toll roads: One is near Hilton Head; the other, is near Greenville.
As of Monday, the amendment simply states that a toll be imposed on I-95 "where it crosses Lake Marion in either Orangeburg or Clarendon (counties)," with the toll used, as Johnson surmised three years ago, "for the maintenance, upgrade and expansion of the highway and interchanges of (I-95)."
If passed, a signature by Gov. Henry McMaster is all that is needed to make the amendment law.
State Department of Transportation officials have said there is a plan in place, which would place up to four toll booths in the area. Each booth would collect $2. A full ride on the entirety of the interstate in South Carolina would ultimately cost a driver $8. Other tolls could be added later. Hutto said in an interview with WBTW that booths would start in Jasper County and continue through Lake Marion and the upstate.
