Community Corner

Toll Hike for Sakonnet River Bridge?

The tolls could rise from 10 cents to 50 cents.

The Senate Finance Committee Tuesday night voted to extend the deadline until tolls on the Sakonnet River Bridge increase from 10 cents to 50 cents for E-ZPass holders and $3.75 for out-of-state and cash paying drivers.

The state must address the bridge toll issue by April 1 or the tolls will automatically increase.

With the vote, the committee extended the date of the increase to May 15. The House Finance Committee cast a similar vote on a companion bill.

The Rhode Island Bridge and Turnpike Authority is asking state leaders to increase the toll, citing the need for repairs and maintenance on the bridge in addition to its three other bridge: the Claiborne Pell Bridge, the Mount Hope Bridge, the Jamestown Verrazano Bridge as well as the Sakonnet River Bridge.

RIBTA Chairman David A. Darlington said without increased tolls, the turnpike authority would be unable to make repairs and would have trouble borrowing money. If no action is taken by July 1, Darlington wrote in a letter to lawmakers, the state must consider "returning the Jamestown Verrazano and Sakonnet River Bridges" back to the state Department of Transportation and increasing the toll on the Pell bridge.

The Providence Journal reported that RIBTA executive director Earl J. "Buddy" Croft said the agency has been using bond anticipation notes to cover project costs while the state debates the toll situation. Once the tolls are established, they'll be able to get long-term financing.

Without settlement on the toll issue, and without any more bond anticipation notes, the authority will be in trouble, he said.


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