A proposal to add special tolled truck-only lanes to Interstate 81 in Virginia has been met with harsh criticism by members of the trucking industry.

The plan is one of 16 proposals in a Virginia Department of Transportation study on improving I-81. Under the proposal – which was put together by a collective of private engineering and construction firms known as STAR Solutions – funds from tolls on the truck-specific lanes would be used to expand the entire roadway, the Staunton News Leader reported.

However, according to the study by VDOT, trucks would not be required to use the new toll lanes.

“On average, 50 percent of heavy vehicles are expected to utilize the exclusive truck lanes,” the study said.

Adding two additional truck lanes going each way on I-81 would have a price tag of $8.6 billion, the Roanoke Times reported. Once built, the toll revenue would be use to pay for a $13 billion expansion of the 325-mile stretch of road.

At a series of public roundtable meetings, opponents of the plan said tolling only trucks is discriminatory, not to mention bad business.

“It would have a devastating impact not only on the economy of western Virginia, but on the beauty of western Virginia,” Del. Chris Saxman, R-Saunton, said at the meeting, according to the News Leader. “STAR Solution’s (plan) is not a workable plan because it’s too big.”

The public meetings arrived on the heels of an environmental impact study by the Virginia DOT, which gave a low rating the truck-specific toll lane proposal, the Roanoke Times said.