POUGHKEEPSIE – Only five people spoke during a New York State Bridge Authority (NYSBA) public hearing Monday night seeking input on the proposed toll hikes on the Bear Mountain, Newburgh-Beacon, Mid-Hudson, Kingston-Rhinecliff and Rip Van Winkle bridges.
Tara Sullivan, acting executive director of the agency said that the toll increase will help the authority raise “sufficient revenue” to continue to maintain and repair their five bridges. The NYSBA receives no tax dollars to support the operation. Maintenance and repair are covered by strictly from toll revenues. According to Sullivan, the last time the tolls were increased was in 2011. “Tolls today are actually lower, in real dollars, than they were in 1933 when the bridge authority was formed,” noted Sullivan.
Ulster County resident and Regional CSEA President Anthony Adamo said his members, many of whom are Bridge Authority employees, do not support a merger with the Thruway Authority. “We are very, very frantic and nervous about the Thruway merger,” he said. The Thruway merger, we feel, will not be good for the Hudson Valley. We feel it will limit our communities because our bridges will be too expensive for our citizens and our membership to cross on a daily basis.”
Adamo said it is a minimal toll hike, totaling 40 cents over four years for EZ-Pass drivers.
“I don’t feel that my membership of the Hudson Valley should have to take on an expense because maybe we spent a little too much on a crossing south from here,” said Adamo as he expressed dismay in the cost of the Mario M. Cuomo/Tappan Zee bridge project.
Jeff Smith, a 20-year employee of the NYSBA spoke in favor of the toll hike while denouncing the governor’s proposed merger between the Bridge Authority and the New York State Thruway Authority.
“I’ve learned that the Thruway Authority used to operate two bridges. Those two bridges are now at the bottom of the river,” said Smith.
Lifelong Poughkeepsie resident Gus Kozolias is not in favor of the toll hike. The 89-year-old outspoken critic of most government actions said “this is bad for the working class” and encouraged the authority to find a way to avoid the hike.
Carl Whitehead of the Town of Poughkeepsie echoed Smith’s sentiments of supporting the increase but opposing the merger. “The Newburgh-Beacon Bridge needs repair.”
The toll increase, if approved, will go into effect on May 1, 2020. At that time, the cost for a passenger vehicle to cross the five spans will go from $1.50 to $1.75 per trip while EZ-Pass customers will see a 10-cent increase per trip at $1.35. The NYSBA has developed a five-year, $243 million improvement and maintenance plan for the bridges including a $90 million replacement deck for the north span of the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge. In addition to the five motor-vehicle spans, the NYSBA also handles the maintenance for the Walkway Over the Hudson structure.
Thruway Authority leadership has adamantly said if the two entities are merged, the impact would be one of economy of scale in purchasing and other back-office functions. They said the Mid-Hudson bridge tolls would not be hiked to subsidize the much larger Thruway Authority.
