Skip to main content

Campaign to eliminate I-190 Grand Island, NY tolls

Image
By
Buffalo businessman and developer Carl Paladino is up to something again.

Paladino, who led a successful drive last year to remove toll barriers on the I-190 (Niagara Thruway) section of the New York State Thruway, has set forth on a new cause, ending the collection of the Grand Island bridge tolls. The Grand Island Bridges carry Interstate 190 and NY 324 across the eastern channel of the Niagara River between Tonawanda and Niagara Falls, and there are no other bridges that connect Grand Island to the rest of the world.

In a letter to New York Governor Eliot Spitzer this week, Paladino laid out his argument against the levy of bridge tolls in both financial and moral terms. While the letter does not mention the course of legal action, Paladino is hoping Spitzer will do the right thing and continue to tear down the Berlin Wall against Buffalo-area commuters. Paladino's reasoning: The Thruway Authority collected $20.6 million in toll revenue from the Grand Island bridges last year, but spent only $10.6 million on the bridges’ routine maintenance. Currently, the state charges a 75 cent toll for passenger vehicles to cross the bridge, and less money for Grand Island residents and commuters who use E-ZPass. According to the New York Thruway website, the deep discount equals out to be 25 cents for commuters and 9 cents for residents. These tolls are only charged for those people who are driving to Grand Island.

Currently, there are three sets of bridges that charge tolls on the Thruway. They are the Grand Island Bridges, the Tappan Zee Bridge and the Castleton-on-Hudson Bridge. The Castleton Bridge has a toll that is 75 cents, and because it is part of the ticket system, is charged only when exiting the Thruway mainline. Paladino's argument is that the charge to the Grand Island bridges is unfair, since in 2005, the toll went up from 50 cents to 75 cents a trip (a 50% increase), while the Tappan Zee Bridge toll went up from $3 to $4, which is a 25% increase.

Additionally, according to the Buffalo News, the Grand Island bridges are slated for an estimated $500 million replacement. Tolls throughout the Thruway system would finance this. Which means if I use the Thruway to go from Albany to Newburgh, I am helping pay for any repairs done on Grand Island, or Syracuse, or any location along the Thruway of your choice.

My opinion, keep the tolls in place because the Grand Island Bridge are used for long distance travel and trucks going between New York and Ontario. This long distance travel should be subject to helping finance the cost of the tolls on the Thruway. However, if a compromise must be made, then it would be good to drop the tolls for Grand Island commuters and residents with E-ZPass. These people already pay a reduced fare to cross the bridges, since it is their only way on and off the island by car. I am not sure how much of a difference this makes as far as toll revenue is concerned, but my impression is that the Grand Island bridges are part of a more long distance corridor.

http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/buffaloerie/story/79186.html - Buffalo News
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Morgan Territory Road

By
Morgan Territory Road is an approximately 14.7-mile-long roadway mostly located in the Diablo Range of Contra Costa County, California.  The roadway is named after settler Jerimah Morgan who established a ranch in the Diablo Range in 1857.  Morgan Territory Road was one of several facilities constructed during the Gold Rush era to serve the ranch holdings.   The East Bay Regional Park District would acquire 930 acres of Morgan Territory in 1975 in an effort to establish a preserve east of Mount Diablo. The preserve has since been expanded to 5,324 acres. The preserve functionally stunts the development along roadway allowing it to remain surprisingly primitive in a major urban area. Part 1; the history of Morgan Territory Road During the period of early period of American Statehood much of the Diablo Range of Contra Costa County was sparsely developed.   Jerimah Morgan acquired 2,000 acres of land east of Mount Diablo in 1856 and established a ranch in 1857. Morgan Territory Road is
2 comments
Read more

The 1915 Fine Gold Creek Bridge (Madera County)

By
The 1915 Fine Gold Creek Bridge is an early era arch concrete structure found alongside modern Madera County Road 200.  The structure was modeled as a smaller scale of the 1905 Pollasky Bridge (still in ruins at the San Joaquin River) and was one of many early twentieth century improvements to what was then known as the Fresno-Fresno Flats Road.  The 1915-era bridge was replaced with a modernized concrete span during 1947 but was never demolished.  The original concrete structure can be still found sitting in the brush north of the 2023 Fine Gold Creek Bridge.     Part 1; the history of the 1915 Fine Gold Creek Bridge The 1915 Fine Gold Creek Bridge lies near the site of the former mining community of Fine Gold.   Mining claims were staked at Fine Gold during the Mariposa War during 1850. The community was never very large but became a stopping point on the stage road between the original Fresno County seat at Millerton and Fresno Flats (now Oakhurst). The stage road eventually bypas
Post a Comment
Read more

Old Sonoma Road

By
  Old Sonoma Road is an approximately five-mile highway located in the Mayacamas Mountains of western Napa County.  The roadway is part of the original stage road which connected Napa Valley west to Mission San Francisco Solano as part of El Camino Real.  Much of Old Sonoma Road was bypassed by the start of the twentieth century by way of Sonoma Highway.  A portion of Old Sonoma Road over the 1896 Carneros Creek Bridge (pictured as the blog cover) was adopted as part of Legislative Route Number 8 upon voter approval of the 1909 First State Highway Bond Act.  The 1896 Carneros Creek Bridge served as a segment of California State Route 37 and California State Route 12 from 1934 through 1954.  Part 1; the history of Old Sonoma Road Old Sonoma Road has origins tied to the formation of Mission San Francisco Solano and the Spanish iteration of El Camino Real.  Mission San Francisco Solano was founded as the last and most northern Spanish Mission of Alta California on July 4, 1823.  The new M
Post a Comment
Read more