Lawmakers pulled back somewhat from the toll road concept on March 20, approving one proposal but rejecting another in the state Senate.
Senators have been deliberating vigorously on new ways to pay for highway construction. In the past week, they have given preliminary approval to three proposals that could pave the way for toll roads.
Similar proposals last session failed to reach the floor for a vote.
On a day that saw a flurry of floor action, senators voted to send S1420 to the House. The bill would authorize city and county officials in Pima, Maricopa and Pinal counties to establish public highway authorities to build and operate toll roads.
But they balked at S1465, which would allow ADOT to accept unsolicited proposals for transportation projects and to consider any financing mechanisms, including franchise or user fees, in its evaluation of these proposals. 
Seeing her colleagues’ decision on S1465, Sen. Pamela Gorman of Anthem decided not to push through with the third reading of her S1498, which would allow the Arizona Department of Transportation to enter into public-private partnerships to finance, construct and maintain transportation projects.
Gorman said she would try to solidify support for the proposal and bring it back to the floor soon. 
Her proposal is substantially different from the two other bills, she said.
“Mine isn’t specific to roads,” she said, adding it covers any transportation project where private funding could be brought in.
Sen. Ron Gould of Lake Havasu City said one option would be to ask Senate President Tim Bee to put S1465 up for another vote, but only if he could persuade three more lawmakers to support it. The proposal failed on a vote of 13-to-15. It needs 16 votes to pass.
“I just think they don’t understand toll roads,” Gould said after the measure failed. “It’s outside the box a little bit. People just aren’t comfortable with it.”
The good thing, however, is that introducing the measures stimulates public debate, he said.
Many questions and concerns lingered on toll roads, particularly coming from those who had lived on the East Coast, where tolls are more common.
“How are we going to identify within the process that the taxpayer is paying a fair toll and that maintenance of the roadway is going to be kept up to a standard that the state requires?” asked Sen. Tom O'Halleran of Sedona in an earlier floor debate.
Gould said he envisions a toll system to be regulated in the same manner as utility companies.
“They are allowed to make a specific profit on their investment,” he said.
Gould said toll roads would not solve all of the state's transportation problems. “But we do have a serious problem with money. In the back of our minds, we need to remember that there is no money in the federal trust fund in 2009. That money was all given out as pork,” he said.