Report by Paula Antolini, February 25, 2019, 8:00AM EDT
Come show your support for NO TOLLS CT! Dress warm and bring a sign!
NO TOLLS CT is having a protest in DANBURY on March 2, 2019 to show their opposition to Governor Lamont’s viewpoint on bringing tolls into Connecticut. (Also a protest in NORWICH 11:30 – 12:30)
WHAT: No Tolls CT Protest – Danbury
WHEN: Saturday, March 2, 2019 at 1 PM – 2 PM
WHERE: Corner of Wildman and White Streets, Danbury CT
*****
NO TOLLS CT statement:
On December 19, 2018, then Governor-elect Ned Lamont’s Advisory Panel on Transportation announced their recommendation to add electronic tolls not only on tractor-trailers, but cars as well.
That came as no surprise to most of us since the 2009 Connecticut Electronic Tolling and Congestion Price Study – Final Report recommended the exact same thing. Prior to his inauguration, Governor Ned Lamont reiterated that tolls were coming, but he would maintain his campaign stance and toll only tractor trailers.
The bottom line is that if the State of Connecticut puts up electronic tolls or gantries, it will have no option but to toll every vehicle on our highways, as the 2009 report stated. It is the only way to make tolling profitable. The General Assembly has proven that it is has no fiscal discipline and will use tolls to fill the coffers of the state.
*****
“Yeah, tolls are going to happen. The gas tax does not fix a state with 90-year-old infrastructure. Business and labor and Democrats and, I think most Republicans in their heart, know that we have to change how we pay for the infrastructure. — Governor-Elect Ned Lamont, Hartford Courant, January 6, 2019
*****
TOLL LOCATIONS:
A TOLL EVERY SIX (6.6) MILES ON 91, 95, 84, 291, 395, 694, 2, 8, 9, 15
Proposed placement of the 82 toll gantries. Each red dot represents a toll gantry or electronic toll.
TOLL PRICING
THE REALITY OF THE FACT IS THAT WE REALLY DON’T KNOW WHAT THE TOLL PRICING WILL BE AND THE TRUTH IS THAT ONCE THOSE TOLL GANTRIES ARE INSTALLED, THERE IS NO TURNING BACK. THE RATES CAN BE RAISED AT ANYTIME.
“The preliminary study sets toll rates for state residents as low as 3.5 cents per mile during off-peak hours if the driver has a Connecticut E-Z Pass. The average trip made by a Connecticut driver on limited access highways is 12 miles, DOT said. With the discounts, a 12-mile toll trip would be 42 cents off-peak and 53 cents during peak hours, DOT noted. ‘If the state were to raise the equivalent amount of revenue from the gas tax, it would require an increase of 67 cents in addition to the current 25 cent [per gallon] gas tax, or a total of 92 cents on every gallon of gas,’ DOT said.” — State: Highway tolls could bring in $1 billion a year By Bill Cummings Updated 10:00 pm EST, Thursday, November 15, 2018
###