Published: August 14, 2008 03:04 pm            

KISSEL: Toll removal is just "a matter of time"

Considering the fight against the GI tolls has been ongoing for 50 years, I was a little taken aback by the words.

"It's just a matter of time," said State Sen. Antoine Thompson on Wednesday regarding the effort to get rid of the tolls at the bridges.

The comment came towards the end of the interview and it animated my eyebrows.

Despite able champions for the effort, awareness of the Island's half century of Sissyphean toll fighting can lower one's expectations.

If — or when — this ever happens, the reason could be different than the current plan.

"I still support the bill," Thompson said, referring to the stalled legislation that would turn the I-190 over to the state Department of Transportation and away from the Thruway Authority.

Part of that would be elimination of the tolls, which is what Thompson said his main goal is.

But there's also a bigger issue.

"Keep it to the mainline" is what the lawmakers who wrote this law have to say about the Authority and its far-flung empire, which includes the Grand Island Bridges.

Although the bill was headed for the floor of the Senate for a vote, something unknown prevented that from happening.

It gets pretty murky for me there, but the bridges are in sharp focus, and I believe they need to be toll-free and free flowing.

Thompson agreed, and said the funding for their maintenance could be found elsewhere.

For this to come to pass, though, area residents will need to remind their Albany representation this issue matters.

For one thing, it will keep about $32 million dollars per year in this area instead of going off into the Thruway Authority's coffers.

(Though I'd still like to know the percentage — which nobody seems to know — of Canadians and truckers who pay the toll. And is that the real reason the tolls remain?)

Of course, with the toll plazas gone, there's also the opportunity to make more efficient entry to the bridges. Wouldn't that be lovely?

Resulting in less pollution and hassle getting onto the Island.

And for those who think it's a bad idea for various reasons, perhaps it should be conditional for a year.

Let's try it out and see how it goes.

We'll never know until then.



Joseph Kissel covers Grand Island for the Record.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.