East Bay Legislators to Fight Any Tolls on Mount Hope, Sakonnet River Bridges
For tolls to be established, the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority would need the General Assembly to pass enabling legislation, and a trio of legislators are vehemently opposed to any such bill.
Rep. Raymond E. Gallison Jr. (Bristol, Portsmouth), Rep. John G. Edwards (D-Tiverton, Portsmouth) and Sen. Walter S. Felag Jr. (D-Warren, Bristol, Tiverton) are introducing bills aimed at preventing the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority from instituting tolls on the Mount Hope and Sakonnet River bridges.
In a press release Friday, the legislators said they want to send a message to the Turnpike and Bridge Authority that any request it may make for tolls on those bridges is going to be met with stiff opposition in the General Assembly.
“We’ve said time and time again that the Turnpike and Bridge Authority isn’t going to hold the people of the East Bay and Aquidneck Island hostage. If they try to put in these tolls, we will fight them tooth and nail on behalf of our constituents,” Gallison said.
Gallison and Edwards have introduced bills banning tolls on the Mount Hope and Sakonnet River bridges, respectively, and Felag has introduced both bills in the Senate. All have introduced the bills in previous years, but say they are more concerned than ever about discussions the Turnpike and Bridge Authority has been having about creating new tolls.
In order for tolls to be established, the authority would need the General Assembly to pass enabling legislation, and the trio of legislators said they would vehemently oppose any such bill.
“As it is, those who live on or visit Aquidneck Island already have to deal with tolls of $4 each way on the Pell Bridge, and those were only allowed because the authority agreed not to charge tolls on the other bridges," Edwards said. "At least now, drivers have the option, even if it’s not always the most convenient one, of getting to or from this part of the state a different way. But if tolls are allowed on all the bridges, people in this area will be made to open their wallets every time they need to go to another part of the state, and that’s just completely unfair to residents. It will also hurt businesses, who will likely lose plenty of customers who would prefer to go somewhere that doesn’t require them to pay a toll.”
The legislators say reinstating the tolls on the Mount Hope Bridge, which connects Bristol and Portsmouth would be breaking a promise made to Rhode Islanders from over a decade ago. Tolls were eliminated from Mount Hope in 1998 when the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority said tolls on the nearby Pell Bridge, which cost drivers $2 per axle to cross, would provide plenty of money to maintain both.
Felag, who has been opposed to tolls for all of his 13 years as a state senator, said, “We all have to work harder these days to live within our means. The Turnpike and Bridge Authority should learn that lesson. East Bay residents and Aquidneck Islanders are already struggling, and taxing them every time they leave the area is just going to mean fewer people and businesses will be able to afford to stay here. More tolls are going to hurt the economy right now.”
Jimmy
11:06 am on Saturday, January 14, 2012
Where is Dan Gordon? Not doing his job once again.
Gerry Jones
10:25 am on Sunday, January 15, 2012
Probably nursing a hangover. The only thing he has put his name to that I can tell is a resolution about federal powers. Yeah, he's doing a "great" job representing our district.
felice
2:53 pm on Saturday, January 14, 2012
My husband and I have been residents of Tiverton for 15 yrs. and born and raised in R.I.. We are now senior citizens and barely making ends meet. It would be detrimental to our financial health if they charge us anything to go over these additional bridges. We have to travel over these 2 bridges to get from point "A" to point "B" and back again to get home. Many more thousands of daily travelers are in the same predicament. Cost of living expenses have skyrocketed these past 3 yrs. and we find no relief in sight and New England states are known to be the highest taxed to live here when you're a resident of Rhode Island. We are selling our home due to the high cost of owning here in R.I.. Don't add insult to injury and face losing more residents in this part of the state. I want to thank our legislators for taking a stand on this major issue. Stop the spending, plain and simple!
Born and Raised in the Tiv
11:06 pm on Friday, January 20, 2012
If you're going over the bridges to buy anything you're paying too much as it is. Go to Fall River to buy your goods cheaper, that's what it's there for....
malcom lagauche
4:20 pm on Saturday, January 14, 2012
I know it's off the point, but I still can't get used to seeing a view of this area with an open space where the railroad bridge used to stand. Destroying it robbed Tiverton of a part of its history.
jim
7:59 am on Monday, January 16, 2012
i also miss this connection.
it should be reconnected with a new rail system to the island. long overdo and badely needed.
Joe Sousa.
6:38 am on Monday, January 16, 2012
The State DOT should be doing the maintenance on this bridge. Put in legislation to fund the DOT . The gas tax should be used to fund road & bridge repairs. Instead we give free rides on RIPTA .Put the gas tax to use where it was intended to go.
Mark D
8:41 pm on Friday, January 20, 2012
Yes After all RIDOT does such a great job of maintaining our bridges. Jamestown, Sakonnet River, Pawtucket bridge on 95 and the Providence viaduct. When all these bridges are completed being rebuilt it will have cost the state over 500 million. How long do you think the Mt Hope Bridge will last when the budget of the state is spread even thinner because they have to take care of this bridge. All of these other bridges fell apart because the state did not have the money to maintain them, so maybe we need another idea.
Joe Sousa.
5:18 am on Saturday, January 21, 2012
Mark D said, "All of these other bridges fell apart because the state did not have the money to maintain them, so maybe we need another idea."
The money was collected at the gas pump to fix these roads and bridges. The legislature spent it in other areas of the budget. Mismanagement caused the problems. RI gas tax 33 cents per gallon
Mark D
6:33 am on Saturday, January 21, 2012
In one aspect you are right Ri pays the highest gas tax in the country 33 cents a gallon. However the money doesn't go into the general fund. Secondly RI has the country's lowest state funded transportation budget. It relies too heavily on the federal gov't almost every state in the country uses tolls to help pay for road work. I suggest that we all look at the funding sources and the expenses and see where the shortfall lies. Also the gas tax provides less and less money every year especially in a recession. Cars are much more efficient and people drive less, so both sources the federal dollars and the state dollars are shrinking. Is there mismanagement certainly but not to the extent that would make it possible for the state to take over the Mt Hope Bridge and maintain it the way it has been maintained for over 80 years. But thats alright just raise the rate on the Newport bridge after all they don't need the money.
Andrew Naylor
10:28 am on Thursday, February 16, 2012
Andrew N
Think SAFE. In the words of Clint Eastwood " Do you feel lucky punk" every time you cross a bridge maintained by the RIDOT and get to the other side?
How much more of our tax's do we have to give to the RIDOT so they can continue to show there incompetence at Bridge maintenance
At least when been held up on the Mount Hope bridge for maintenance I know my life is been looked after.
When was the last time you where held up on the Sakonnet bridge for Routine maintenance rather than emergency band aid work? never so now we need a new bridge
Ask the families of the people who died in Minnesota when the I75 Bridge collapsed there if they would rather have paid a toll and had there relatives alive today There was not even a weight restriction on that bridge when it failed !
How close are we in RI to a catastrophe like that, due to poorly funded and badly run maintenance departments?
The Day the Pell bridge and Mount hope bridge fail safety inspections then conceder moving there control to some other authority
But for now think SAFE think TOLL
Joe Sousa.
12:23 pm on Thursday, February 16, 2012
This Bill makes more sense. Consolidate and Fund the maintenance .
Rep. Morrison Introduces Bill To Dissolve Turnpike and Bridge Authority
The bill would place the new Turnpike and Bridge Division under the direction of an assistant director at DOT.
The bill would essentially dissolve the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority and move all of its projects to be handled by a division of the Rhode Island Department of Transportation.
Claire Arrico
6:02 pm on Sunday, April 29, 2012
I think any toll on this bridge would hurt the economy on this Island. Our prices are so high now for food gas clothing and anything else you buy here. We are already paying high enough prices to live here
East side
8:30 pm on Sunday, April 29, 2012
Toll the new bridge - that's my opinion. Keep the funds within the Bridge Authority so that this bridge keeps getting maintained just like the Newport Bridge. People are short sighted if they believe someone else is going to pay the tab. We don't want in the future what we have today due to lack of bridge maintenance. Look at the safety issue with the hummocks bridge down, look at all of the businesses that cannot pass over the Sakonnet bridge and need to travel around it - that's a lot of gas and maintenance expense. As far as the island businesses go - what are they doing today? what are the people on the island doing - as an islander I still shop on the island. Let's keep access to the island a positive and open invite. It takes money to make money.