Mandate for 3 toll projects ends in NC Senate bill

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A bill to eliminate the mandate on North Carolina transportation officials to build three toll-road projects has cleared the state Senate, but it's unclear if the House will go along.

The Senate gave its final approval Thursday to changes to a House bill that originally told state engineers to review an alternate but unlikely route for a stretch of Raleigh's Outer Beltline so federal funds can flow again.

An addition to the bill by Senate Republicans deleted the Garden Parkway, Cape Fear Skyway and Mid-Currituck Bridge from state law authorizing their construction. Sen. Bill Rabon of Southport said the projects aren't dead but that DOT should examine them using similar standards for other road construction to determine their fate.

The House can now accept changes or seek a compromise.