Authorities pass toll hikes on state's major highways
By THOMAS BARLAS
Staff Writer, 609-272-7201
Published: Saturday, October 11, 2008
New Jersey motorists protested until the last minute Friday, but still will have to dig deeper into their pockets to pay higher fares on the state's three toll roads.Atlantic City Expressway operators authorized toll hikes of 50 percent to 60 percent, depending on the location. Two hours later, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, which runs the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway, approved two toll increases. The original proposal called for three.Drivers will begin paying higher tolls around the end of November or beginning of December. The second toll hikes on the parkway and turnpike will take effect in 2012.Motorists will get some breaks: The parkway and turnpike will give off-peak discounts to E-ZPass customers, truckers, senior citizens and those who drive fuel-efficient cars. Expressway drivers with E-ZPass will get a 25 percent "tourism discount" intended to encourage tourism in the Atlantic County area during the offseason.The increases followed a series of public hearings, the last of which was held Friday morning. While public hearings for the expressway toll hikes were sparsely attended, angry state residents again confronted Turnpike Authority officials to protest the increases on the turnpike and parkway.
Gail Toth, executive director of the New Jersey Motor Truck Association, which represents state truckers, said the increases will hurt trucking companies already fighting high gas prices and a weakened economy."If you're paying $8 extra per truck and you have a fleet of 100 trucks, that's an extra $800 per day," she said. "How many small businesses can absorb that?"Monmouth County resident Dennis Brady said traffic has increased steadily in his neighborhood as commuters seek to avoid toll roads, and envisioned the situation worsening.In a letter sent to Turnpike Authority Chairman Kris Kolluri, two Ocean County freeholders asked that the toll hikes be delayed, arguing that no public hearings were held in Ocean County, through which the parkway runs."This toll plan proposal would hit hardest the motorists of Ocean County, who are centrally located and must pass through numerous toll barriers on the daily commute," Ocean County freeholders Joseph Vicari and Gerry Little wrote.Kolluri defended the increases, saying the higher tolls would fund $373 million in bridge and road improvements by the end of the year and about $1.3 billion in work by the end of June 2009."If you ask anybody who sits in traffic on Friday, Saturday or Sunday or on any weekday at the turnpike (and parkway) merge, I think they'll be the first one to support it," he said. "Politicians and people like me have promised these projects for over a decade, and it's time to make good on our promise."Kolluri, the state Department of Transportation commissioner, also chairs the South Jersey Transportation Authority, or SJTA, which operates the expressway.Kolluri chaired the SJTA toll hike meeting by video conference from the Turnpike Authority headquarters. He overruled one SJTA commissioner's suggestion that wording on the resolution authorizing the expressway toll hike be changed to read "toll adjustment" instead of "toll increase." Kolluri said he didn't want to mislead the public about what was happening.Toll increases on all three highways must be approved by Gov. Jon S. Corzine, who said Thursday he will give his consent to the new fare structure.On the expressway, the 25 percent tourism discount will be given from 5 to 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays for periods that begin no later than Nov. 17 through May 18, 2009, and from Oct. 15, 2009, through May 18, 2010. The expressway toll hikes would raise $205 million to pay for various improvements on the expressway and at Atlantic City International Airport, which the SJTA also operates. About $10 million would be dedicated to a project that would convert Atlantic and Pacific avenues in Atlantic City into one-way streets.A resolution authorizing the change was pulled during Atlantic City Council's meeting Wednesday, in part because of objections from some merchants. That prompted the SJTA on Friday to authorize no more time or money be spent on the project.SJTA Executive Director Bart Mueller said the agency still will include the $10 million in the toll-hike schedule. Removing it would have a "minuscule" effect on the toll increase, he said, adding the money could be diverted to other SJTA projects.On the parkway, 35-cent tolls would increase 15 cents this year and another 25 cents by 2012. The cost of an average turnpike trip would increase 50 cents this year and another 90 cents by 2012. Toll hikes planned by 2023 are eliminated.The Associated Press contributed to this report.E-mail Thomas Barlas:TBarlas@pressofac.com
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