Here's How Much the Priciest Toll Roads, Bridges, and Tunnels Cost in the United States

There's nothing like having a city in the rearview mirror and the open road ahead. Burdens lift from the mind, the speedometer needle climbs, and the soul lets out its yawp. Until—in the distance—a tollbooth lurks, a wretched reminder that we are all cogs in a machine that requires constant funding to keep the potholes from swallowing us whole. Although the roadways are becoming safer than ever.

Here, from the Federal Highway Administration's most recent accounting of our nation's toll roads, is a survey of the most expensive ways to ply these United States. (Prices listed are for the road's full length, are from 2019, and are ordered from least to most expensive.) Avoid the tolls or tolerate them; the choice is yours. Just don't let the tax collector stifle your yawp.

Maximum passenger-car fee: $13.00

Type: Non-interstate Toll Tunnel
Between: One side of Maynard Mountain and the other, in Alaska
Length: 2.5 miles

Fun fact: The single-lane Whittier Tunnel, as it's best known, stretches for 2.5 miles through Maynard Mountain and has scheduled departures every 30 minutes; westbound cars leave on the hour, and the eastbound ones, on the half hour, except when a train needs to pass through. Between trips, the tunnel is aired out by jet fans to preserve air quality.

Maximum passenger-car fee: $13.75

Type: Interstate Bridge
Between: Nyack and Tarrytown, New York
Length: 3.7 miles

Fun fact: The original Tappan Zee span was closed in 2017 and has since been replaced by a parallel span dubbed the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge. Both are pictured here, with the new bridge (left) under construction alongside the old Tappan Zee (right).

Maximum passenger-car fee: $14.50

Type: Non-interstate Toll Road
Between: I-25/C-470 and I-25/Northwest Parkway, in Colorado
Length: 47 miles

Fun fact: We're not sure this is "fun," but the operators of E-470 say the roadway is "renowned" for "pioneering the use of license-plate photo images to generate toll bills mailed to the registered owner of the vehicle."

Maximum passenger-car fee: $15.00

Type: Non-interstate Toll Bridge
Between: Staten Island, New York, and Bayonne, New Jersey
Length: 1.55 miles

Fun fact: That the Bayonne Bridge was the longest truss design in the world when completed pales in comparison to this tidbit: The project was completed months earlier than scheduled and well under budget. Imagine that.

Maximum passenger-car fee: $15.00

Type: Interstate Bridge
Between: Fort Lee, New Jersey, and Upper Manhattan, New York
Length: 1.88 miles

Fun fact: When it opened in 1931, the stately George Washington Bridge consisted solely of an upper road deck with six lanes dedicated to traffic. Increased traffic led to the paving of two additional lanes down the center of the bridge in 1946; yet more demand spurred the opening of a lower bridge deck with another six lanes in 1962.

Maximum passenger-car fee: $15.00

Type: Interstate Bridge
Between: Staten Island, New York, and Elizabeth, New Jersey
Length: 2.2 miles

Fun fact: One of three bridges between Staten Island, New York, and New Jersey, the Goethals Bridge is said to support the transport of "more than $33 billion of regional goods" annually.

Maximum passenger-car fee: $15.00

Type: Interstate Tunnel
Between: Jersey City, New Jersey, and Lower Manhattan, New York
Length: 1.58 miles

Fun fact: When completed in 1927, seven years after funds for the project were appropriated, the Holland Tunnel linking New Jersey and New York City was the world's first mechanically ventilated underwater tunnel intended for vehicle use. Engineer Ole Singstad, who took over the project after the first two lead engineers each died (separately), is credited with the idea for the ventilation system to clear exhaust fumes. However, the tunnel bears the name of its first chief engineer, Clifford M. Holland.

Maximum passenger-car fee: $15.00

Type: Non-interstate Tunnel
Between: Weehawken, New Jersey, and Midtown Manhattan, New York
Length: 2.68 miles

Fun fact: The toll portion of the Lincoln Tunnel runs 2.68 miles, but the tunnel itself is 1.50 miles long. It was opened to traffic in 1937.

Maximum passenger-car fee: $15.00

Type: Non-interstate Toll Bridge
Between: Perth Amboy, New Jersey, and Staten Island, New York
Length: 1.77 miles

Fun fact: The Outerbridge Crossing's road deck sits 143 feet over the surface of the Arthur Kill, which allows large oceangoing vessels to pass cleanly underneath.

Maximum passenger-car fee: $16.50

Type: Interstate Toll Road
Between: Indiana state line and Pennsylvania state line
Length: 241.2 miles

Fun fact: Nothing, and we repeat, absolutely nothing fun or interesting will happen while you're driving on this road. It's one of our first picks for an Interstate to be turned to an Autobahn.

Maximum passenger-car fee: $19.00*

Type: Interstate Bridge
Between: Staten Island and Brooklyn, New York (extends to New Jersey)
Length: 2.4 miles

Fun fact: According to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York, the Verrazzano-Narrows bridge opened in 1964. At the time, it was the world's longest suspension bridge.

*New York recently increased the toll rate for the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge in March 2019 by $4.00.

Maximum passenger-car fee: $19.60

Type: Interstate Toll Road
Between: Alameda Street/Union Station and I-605, in Southern California
Length: 14 miles

Fun fact: Those driving alone on the I-10 express lanes must always pay the toll; cars with two passengers pay only during weekday rush hours.

Maximum passenger-car fee: $26.00

Type: Non-interstate Toll Bridge and Tunnel
Between: One side of Chesapeake Bay and the other, in Virginia
Length: 20 miles

Fun fact: The incredibly long Chesapeake Bay bridge and tunnel are named for, well, having plenty of roadway elevated over the meeting of the bay and the Atlantic Ocean—and a tunnel, which runs beneath the Thimble Shoal Channel. Really, that should be the only fun fact, that there's something called the "Thimble Shoal Channel."

Maximum passenger-car fee: $26.90

Type: Non-interstate Toll Road
Between: Miami and Wildwood, Florida
Length: 266 miles

Fun fact: According to the Florida Turnpike, the road system is used by more than 2 million people every day. Florida also made it easier this year for autonomous cars to roam about the streets.

Maximum passenger-car fee: $27.95

Type: Non-interstate Toll Road
Between: I-87 and I-90, Upstate New York
Length: 17.9 miles

Fun fact: The Berkshire Connector's 17.9 miles of toll road (it's 24 miles overall) makes up a small part of the New York State Thruway's 570 miles of roadway.

Maximum passenger-car fee: $31.00*

Type: Non-interstate Toll Road
Between: Route 16 and Summit of Mount Washington, in New Hampshire
Length: 7.6 miles

Fun fact: The road is privately owned and has unusually specific vehicle restrictions. Most cars are subject to a 900-pound weight limit for passengers and cargo, but pre-1996 Dodge Caravans and Plymouth Voyagers are allowed only 600 pounds. And Hummer H1s are prohibited.

*The owners recently increased the toll rate for the Mount Washington Auto Road this year by $3.00.

Maximum passenger-car fee: $30.00

Type: Interstate Toll Road
Between: U.S. 40 and State Highway 6, in Colorado
Length: 13 miles

Fun fact: This express route was created to alleviate debilitating traffic coming out of the mountains and into Denver on weekends.

Maximum passenger-car fee: $33.70

Type: Interstate Toll Road
Between: Pennsylvania state line and Albany, New York
Length: 236.9 miles

Fun fact: The 570-mile New York State Thruway system contains 809 bridges.

Maximum passenger-car fee: $50.00*

Type: Non-interstate Toll Road
Between: Cascade, Colorado, and Summit of Pikes Peak, Colorado
Length: 19 miles

Fun fact: Even though the City of Colorado Springs operates the road, the section is actually owned by the U.S. Forest Service. The maximum fee listed here is $50, but that's a per-car maximum; per person, the fee is $10 (adults) or $5 (children).

*Colorado recently increased the per-car maximum toll rate for the Pikes Peak Toll Road this year by $10.00.

Maximum passenger-car fee: $62.60*

Type: Interstate Toll Road
Between: Ohio state line and Valley Forge, Pennsylvania
Length: 193.76 miles

Fun fact: Operators of the Pennsylvania Turnpike had, by the 1960s, added curves to its previously long, straight sections as a safety measure. Apparently, the straight bits were dangerously boring. Take notes, Ohio Turnpike.

*Pennsylvania recently increased its toll from Ohio to Delaware River Bridge by $4.30.