Toll Wars: CT Lawmaker Blasts RI Proposal
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
A Connecticut lawmaker took to the local airwaves to criticize Rhode Island’s proposal to build toll booths near the state’s border Monday, arguing that the plan will hurt tourism to Connecticut and that it could ignite a situation where tolls could start to become more common place throughout Southern New England.
Republican State Senator John Kissel said the Ocean State is targeting Connecticut and that the General Assembly and Governor needs to act in order to prevent the tolls from being built.
“Rhode Island is clearly taking a shot at Connecticut and not Massachusetts,” Kissell said. “If we don’t do something on a Congressional and Governor level than it might get through and that would be terrible news for your neck of the woods.”
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State leadership has already signed off on a proposal asking the U.S. Department of Transportation to allow Rhode Island to place tolls between Exits 1 and 2 on I-95 in Hopkinton. In a letter sent in June, Governor Lincoln Chafee, Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed and House Speaker Gordon Fox all said they support the proposal.
But Kissel says he believes the state is violating a handshake agreement among the states regarding tolls and that Connecticut needs to attempt to block the construction of the tolls near the border.
“I talked to former Governor [John] Rowland last week and he said there used to be a tacit understanding amongst New England states that you wouldn’t do this kind of thing back in the day and now apparently Lincoln Chafee and the Rhode Island Senate President, Speaker of the House, they all signed the letter to the federal government saying they want to try to get into this pilot program,” he said. “I think that we’ve got to step on it and step on it real hard.”
Kissel’s issue is that Rhode Island is “sort of opening the door” to tolls and that it would be bad for the economy for states to start building tolls right now. He raised concerns over how the plan would affect the casinos as well.
Rhode Island’s Proposal
In its proposal to the U.S. DOT, Rhode Island said it would like to use the money generated from the tolls to help strengthen the infrastructure of the highway. State Deputy Director of Transportation Phillip Kydd said the plan would help in three specific areas.
He said the goal is to “Replace a heavily traveled structurally deficient bridge carting I-95, the Providence Viaduct; reconstruct a major interchange at I-95 and route 4 to relieve congestion and provide freeway access to the state's premier business park; and bring the 43.3 miles if I-95 and the 23.6 miles of I-295 to a state of good repair.”
Kydd added: “The key project to be funded with toll revenue would be the replacement of the rapidly deteriorating Providence Viaduct which carries up to 230,000 vehicles per day in the heart of the state capital. Due to the conditions of the I-95 corridor and lack of sufficient state funds, tolling I-95 is necessary to maintain connectivity from Washington D.C. to Boston, Massachusetts; for the safety of thousands of motorists and the for the economic viability of businesses (locally and nationally) that rely on our state's 67 miles of the I-95/I-295 interstate corridor”
State Leadership Supports Plan
In a June 15 letter, Chafee, Paiva Weed and Fox all praised the proposal.
“Tolling is necessary to bridge the funding gap,” the letter said. “This fact has been recognized by leaders within the state and by commissions and other public bodies which have studied Rhode Island's transportation funding needs.”
The group said funds generated from the tolling would better support the state’s transportation system.
“Over the last decade, no less than a dozen private and public commissions and organizations have issued reports affirming the need to find alternative and sustainable means to fund Rhode Island's transportation infrastructure needs. The General Assembly has approved to innovative funding opportunities in the past, and we acknowledge that reliance on borrowing to repair out highway system is not a sustainable practice. Exploring and studying appropriate tolling options could provide significant revenues to address key highway needs, such as the replacement of the Providence Viaduct.”
