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- From: reb@Ingres.COM (Phydeaux)
- Newsgroups: misc.consumers
- Subject: The dreaded toll booth! (was: Toll Roads (was: Speeding ticket in OKlahoma --- what's SP8?))
- Message-ID: <1993Jan25.202709.21634@pony.Ingres.COM>
- Date: 25 Jan 93 20:27:09 GMT
- References: <1993Jan22.225109.10422@cbnewsl.cb.att.com> <1993Jan25.174256.17091@wri.com>
- Reply-To: reb@Ingres.COM (Phydeaux)
- Distribution: usa
- Organization: E 4th St Home For The Overeducated Underemployed - New Jersey Div.
- Lines: 25
-
- In article <1993Jan25.174256.17091@wri.com> markm@wri.com writes:
- >What about the (approx) 15 miles of 355 in the Chicago 'burbs? I drive it
- >about once a month, but it costs me 85 cents to go about 8 miles. It costs 50
- >cents when you get on at the south end (I-55) then another 35 cents when you
- >exit at Roosevelt Rd.
-
- I just moved back to NJ from Chicago ... there was, recently, a court
- decision about how toll money could be used. Since the tolls are
- classified as user tolls, the Illinois Tollway has to use the money
- collected on the same portion of the roadway it is collected on, and
- not for extending their system to other areas. Well, suddenly they
- found themselves with lots of money, and without anythign to spend it
- on. What did they do? They started tearing up and repaving sections
- of road as "preventive maintenance."
-
- I do not know about Illinois, but in the NYC/NJ area, the GW Bridge
- and Garden State Parkway were both supposed to have tolls until the
- bonds used for construction were paid off. For the GW bridge, the
- Port Authority uses the tolls as a way to finance all sorts of other
- projects. They also talk about raising the tolls as a way to
- discourage people from driving into NYC. What a crock. If you want
- to find out the details what these authorities *really* think of tolls
- (personal cash cows) read _The_Power_Broker_ by Robert Caro -- It's
- about Robert Moses and the State of NY.
- reb
-