Jan. 15, 2010

Rep. Raymond E. Gallison Jr. at (401) 253-1852

Gallison files bill banning tolls on Mount Hope Bridge

STATE HOUSE – In response to a consultant’s report on the possibility of tolls on the Mount Hope Bridge, Rep. Raymond E. Gallison Jr. said he and other local legislators are renewing their resolve to pass legislation banning the reinstitution of tolls on the span connecting Bristol and Portsmouth.

Rep. Raymond E. Gallison Jr., who has filed the legislation for several years and had already submitted it (2010-H 7081) before the report was released yesterday, says reinstating the tolls would be breaking a promise made to Rhode Islanders 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 would provide plenty of money to maintain both.

“The Turnpike and Bridge Authority just raised the rates on the Pell Bridge, and now they want to add tolls to the Mount Hope Bridge, too? They’re going to be holding people who live or work on Aquidneck Island hostage. It’s outrageous that any Rhode Islanders should have to pay so much just to reach the rest of the state,” said Representative Gallison, a Democrat who represents District 69 in Bristol and Portsmouth.

In 1998 before the tolls on Mount Hope were eliminated, they cost drivers 10 cents for tokens, 30 cents for cash trips. Any increase in those fees would require legislative action. A report issued to the Turnpike and Bridge Authority by Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. suggested toll schedules ranging from 30 cents and axle with a 10-cent discount for E-ZPass users to $3 per axle for cash trips with a rate of 62 cents per axle for in-state E-ZPass users and 68 cents for out-of-state E-ZPass users.

Representative Gallison said he questions what has changed in the last decade that should cause the Turnpike Authority to be unable to afford upkeep on the two bridges, especially when the Pell Bridge’s toll was raised to $2 an axle in August.

“The Turnpike and Bridge Authority needs to be doing its utmost to maintain the bridges while living within its means. Residents should not be facing another tax when they’ve already been paying what we were told was plenty to provide for proper maintenance of the bridges,” said Representative Gallison.

In addition, current law prohibits the installation of tolls on the Sakonnet River Bridge, which connects Portsmouth to Tiverton. Representative Gallison said he would also fight any proposal made to put tolls on that bridge.

Imposing higher tolls on the people who live in the East Bay is only going to make it more difficult for people to afford living in Rhode Island, he said. Additionally, the tolls would hurt workers at Aquidneck Island businesses, like those of Raytheon Integrated Defense Contractors in Portsmouth, one of the state’s largest employers.

Bringing back the tolls would also bring a return of traffic backups and safety hazards on the bridge, he added.

Representative Gallison encouraged residents to make their voices heard at the authority’s public hearings on the proposal, which have not yet been scheduled.

The bill is cosponsored by Rep. Douglas W. Gablinske, (D-Dist. 68, Bristol, Warren), and Rep. Jan P. Malik, (D-Dist. 67, Warren, Barrington).

-30-