Last week, the MTA announced that it would remove the toll barriers on the Brooklyn-bound side of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. The toll booths have not been used for two decades, since the removal of the Brooklyn-bound toll in 1986. At the announcement, MTA Executive Director Elliot Sander told the Staten Island Advance that high-speed tolling, and eliminating the 5-mile-per-hour speed restriction, would be considered for the toll plaza’s redesign, which he called a “blank slate.”
The press release stated that a new westbound toll plaza would be included in the next MTA capital program, which will be released by the agency by March 31. “Removing these unused eastbound booths and re-engineering the roadway for normal speed is a major feature of a modernization package that will ultimately produce a more efficient and safer travel corridor,” Sander said.
Last week’s announcement was one of the first public indications that the MTA is working to upgrade its toll facilities with high-speed tolling. Advocates who have been calling for such changes are pleased.
Perhaps the plaza area on the Brooklyn-bound side could be transformed with NYPD cooperation into a pull-over area for bus/HOV lane enforcement.
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This news is encouraging but doesn’t go far enough. Provision should be made in the redesign for the eventual restoration of two-way tolling, including two-way travel-speed tolling. Two-way tolling on the VNB would be an important component of congestion mitigation in Staten Island and Brooklyn.
Any mention of two-way tolling would just bring out the rabid Staten Island politicians. If the MTA is thinking about it, they’re probably waiting until after the high-speed tolls are built so they can show that two-way tolling wouldn’t cause traffic backups.