The North Carolina House of Representatives approved a bill last week to create a North Carolina Turnpike Authority, but the Senate may not act on it until next spring.

According to the Associated Press, debate in the Senate may be delayed because the legislative session is winding down.
The turnpike authority would have the power to issue revenue bonds to pay for highway projects and condemn private land for the projects. Toll revenue would be used to pay off the bonds.
State transportation officials say toll roads could reduce traffic in urban areas where growth is outstripping Department of Transportation projects. Opponents say the bill will only create a new power-grubbing bureaucracy that could get out of hand down the road.
Previously reported provisions that would allow tolls on existing interstates were actually part of a different Senate bill that will likely never see the light of day, according to Charlie Diehl with the North Carolina Trucking Assn.