Two years after the cost of driving on the Tobin Bridge doubled, another toll hike could be coming, forcing driver to dig even deeper and enraging legislators from the North Shore.
The Massachusetts Port Authority is proposing to hike the toll paid by drivers heading into Boston from $2 to $3. A Massport representative said some of the money will go to cover nearly $15 million the agency has to shell out next year to help the state pay down the ballooning tab from the Big Dig.
Massport wants the toll hike to take effect in the spring. One of the three public hearings on the proposal will be held in Lynn on Dec. 1. Eric MacFarlane, a Salem contractor who works in Boston, said he dreaded the toll increase in 2001 and tried to cheat it by cutting through Everett. But traffic got so bad on the back roads that he went back to the bridge. Now, he’s resigned to paying, and paying more.
“I get whacked with it every day,” he said. “I have no choice.”
The region’s legislators say they oppose the hike, but in the past they have not been able to rally support from their colleagues. The authority to raise tolls rests with Massport’s seven-person board of directors, but they can’t act until 90 days after a special legislative commission releases a much-anticipated report on state highway financing.
Legislators want the agency to offer a discount for commuters. State Rep. Ted Speliotis, D-Danvers, said he’s “very angry” about Massport’s proposal and is vowing to make his colleagues pay attention to the plight of North Shore drivers. The legislators sa they’re keenly aware that commuters from the South Shore enjoy a toll-free ride into the city.
“We should vociferously oppose any rate increase, even if it means stymieing other legislation they may want, to get the attention of our colleagues outside of this region,” Speliotis said. “To me it’s very upsetting. The bridge is paid for. We all know we’re paying for the Big Dig, and we’re going to pay for the rest of our children’s lives.”
Speliotis and state Sen. Fred Berry, D-Peabody, have filed legislation to create the commuter discount, though the bill has not gained traction. State Rep. Mike Ruane, D-Salem, has also filed legislation to roll back tolls on the bridge and said he is going to stay on top of the issue.
“I think it’s unconscionable that they shun anything you propose,” Ruane said. “We just haven’t been able to get anywhere. It’s not like we’re asking for the world.”
“The North Shore legislative caucus is going to be meeting in another week or two,” state Rep. Joyce Spiliotis, D-Peabody, said. “We will take it up. It’s just outrageous, especially now with so many people out of work and the economic times.”
Georgeane Tacelli, a Massport spokeswoman, maintained that the Tobin Bridge will remain “one of the least expensive in the nation” even with the higher tolls. She said the toll increase will “standardize” the toll for all harbor crossings; it costs $3 to take the harbor tunnels.
She refused to comment on commuter discount, saying only that the “math speaks for itself” as she outlined the cost to pay for the Big Dig and keep the bridge safe and in working order. The agency has a list of $68 million worth of maintenance items, from removing lead paint on the bridge to repaving it.
Speliotis, the Danvers state representative, isn’t buying that argument.
“I’m sick of them scraping the paint off and putting it back up,” he said. “I have been going over this bridge since I was a student at Northeastern University. Every year they strip the paint off. How many times have they done that?”
The Dec. 1st hearing in Lynn on hiking the toll starts at 6 p.m. inside the MBTA conference room at North Shore Community College, located on Broad Street. Two other hearings in Charlestown and Chelsea will follow.