My Grandfather was a department head on the New York Highway Authority, later to become the New York State Thruway Authority. The New York State Thruway was built with a Bond issue and Federal tax dollars. Toll roads cannot be built with Federal dollars. So part of the Thruway had to be Free of Tolls…
He fought tooth and nail to get the Free Part of the Thruway to be shared with all the major cities along its route, ie: NYC, Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo…
But all the political power is in New York City and that is where all the miles of Toll Free road went…
And if you read the attached link then as Paul Harvey would say, “and now you know the rest of the story”.
https://community.cartalk.com/t/learning-the-interstate-highways/183963/37?u=loudthunder