COLUMBIA - Tolls could be used to pay for Interstate 73 construction if Gov.Mark Sanford signs a bill approved by the Senate on Thursday.

The measure says the state Transportation Department can impose and collect tolls on the new highway to cover the planning, construction, operations and other costs until it recovers what it spent on the project.

The southern section of I-73 will connect the Grand Strand to Interstate 95 - and ultimately to Michigan.

The legislation hit a snag last week when Sens. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, and John Matthews, D-Bowman, wanted to add a toll to I-95 - a major artery along the coast between Florida and Canada.

Hutto still wants a toll on I-95. "We're just going to do it on a standalone bill," he said.

Sanford is expected to sign the I-73 toll bill.

"The governor is absolutely in favor of this as a mechanism to get that road built more quickly," Sanford spokesman Joel Sawyer said.

The I-95 proposal won't be so lucky. Sanford "would be absolutely against a toll on an existing road," Sawyer said.