BERTHOUD, Colo. — Drivers on Interstate 25 in northern Colorado will now have to pay to use the express lanes between Berthoud and Fort Collins.

Travelers with an ExpressToll pass will pay between $1 and $4.75 for each of three express lane segments, depending on the time of day and direction of travel.

When toll rates are lowest overnight, for example, a driver would pay a total of $3 for a whole one-way trip. During peak hours, a driver would pay as much as $12.20 for a whole one-way trip. Overhead signs will display the current toll price.

“The entire I-25 corridor, north of Denver, has very heavy traffic,” Tim Hoover, a spokesperson for the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), said. “We've been trying to manage congestion on our major highways, including I-25 and especially the northern portions of I-25 running up to Fort Collins.”

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Express lane is open on Interstate 25 from Berthoud to Fort Collins

Hoover said the main purpose of the tolls is to reduce traffic, not to make money. Adding a tolled lane limits the number of cars that choose to use it, which reduces congestion in the other lanes without enticing more drivers onto the highway.

“It’s how a lot of states and really a lot of countries have begun to approach managing congestion,” he said. “It’s not simply to always try to add more lanes. The new lanes just fill up and you’re back to where you were before.”

Warnings for weaving between the general purpose lanes and the express lane also begin April 7. Lane weaving fines with a price tag of $75 will begin on May 7, which becomes $150 if unpaid within 20 days.

“The weaving is very dangerous,” Hoover said. “The express lane is typically going faster, and so if people jump in from one of the general purpose lanes, they can cause a rear-end accident. If people jump out of the express lane, it can also cause an accident. We just want people to be safe, and so this is, unfortunately, the only way to do that.”

The listed toll prices are 40% more expensive for drivers who do not have a transponder, which can be purchased online. Drivers with at least two other people in the car can switch the transponder from toll to HOV to ride in the express lanes for free.

Toll revenues will pay for the construction of the lanes and continued maintenance and operation afterwards.

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