Yesterday, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority sent a letter to Governor Corzine proposing a 50% toll increase on the NJ Turnpike, Garden State Parkway and Atlantic City Expressway in 2009, with tolls continuously increasing over the next 15 years. The plan comes a few months after the death in Trenton of Governor Corzine’s ambitious asset monetization plan to raise tolls 800%, replenish the Transportation Trust Fund, and pay off state debt. Many have eagerly awaited a backup plan to fund transportation.
The hikes would raise $9.7 billion for the NJ Turnpike Authority’s ten year capital program, including $3.3 billion for large widenings of the Turnpike and Garden State Parkway. Environmentalists, transit advocates and others have called into question the ability of these expensive projects to reduce congestion in the long-term.
Mass transit would also be funded with toll proceeds, with $1.25 billion going to the Access to the Region’s Core passenger rail tunnel under the Hudson River and $120 million to NJ Transit operations over the next two years.
The proposal has received mixed reactions so far. Governor Corzine was generally positive, but other elected officials expressed deep concern that this plan would delay action on the larger issue at hand — replenishing the Transportation Trust Fund, the state’s main transportation capital funding source which will run dry in less than two years.
In a statement, the Tri-State Transportation Campaign applauded the plan’s innovative approach to funding transit, but said it ultimately fell short because it would fund two dubious road projects. The Campaign recommended a smaller toll increase which would pay for necessary road maintenance, bridge repair, and ensure that the ARC tunnel remains on track.
More details about the plan will be announced at a public meeting at 9:30am on Tuesday in the NJ Turnpike Authority’s board room at 581 Main Street in Woodbridge, NJ. Hearings on the plan will be held later this month.
[…] Commissioner and NJ Turnpike Authority Chairman Kris Kolluri outlined adjustments to NJTA’s earlier toll increase plan and the accompanying capital […]
[…] NJ Turnpike Authority has offered one funding source: increasing tolls on the NJ Turnpike and Garden State Parkway three times over the next 15 years. The increases would […]
I support a rational increase in tolls to cover capital projects New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway as well as a make a sustainable commitment to the state’s transportation trust fund. I agree that widening the roads is dubious in all but a few locations.
Yet, I do not feel these drivers should shoulder the burden of the costs of mass transit capital projects alone.
I advocate a gasoline tax of .25 to .35 per gallon statewide to fund New Jersey Transit Capital Projects, as well as improvements in rail and bus operations statewide.
Seems more just.
Thanks for your comments. Just to be clear, TSTC agrees there is a congestion problem on the Turnpike. We just believe there are cheaper and more effective alternatives to solving this problem than widening the roadway up to three lanes in each direction. The new lanes will fill with traffic soon after construction is complete. Even the Turnpike Authority documents and traffic stats show that this will happen yet the agency has done nothing to devise strategies (like variable tolling or better freight management) to ensure the new lanes remain congestion free.
$2.5 billion should be able to buy more than a few years of congestion relief.
We live in East Brunswick, NJ exactly midpoint between exits 9 and 8A of the NJ Turnpike. The traffic backups that can occur in that stretch of road where it narrows are almost unbelievable. Even more amazing, they happen at times even when you would least expect them, like on a Sunday evening. In addition to the fact that mass transit is not likely to significantly address this issue (and transit buses can and are caught in exactly the same horrendous traffic), a very large and growing portion of the traffic is truck traffic that by definition can not and never will take public transit. To think that this expansion is not needed and can be instead solved with better transit is far from realistic.
Yeah, I have to agree with the posters above. The NJ Turnpike is a vital component of the national highway system and the backups between 6 and 9 are outrageous. Although I am the biggest proponent of transit you will find, this plan is needed on ALL fronts, highways and transit. The MOM line is a decade away from being completed at best, and that is the closest that transit is getting to that part of the state anytime soon.
The NJ turnpike widening is needed to handle the increased traffic that will come from Pennsylvania when the interchange between I-95 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike is completed.
[…] Authority’s recently disclosed plan to fund a 10-year capital program with higher tolls is fatally flawed because it includes dubious widenings of the NJ Turnpike and Garden State Parkway. But it does get […]
[…] Legislature. The critical question of how to fix the Trust Fund was pushed aside for later, and smaller toll increases on the Turnpike and Parkway were approved in September to fund the three […]
[…] Trust Fund, although most of the state’s contribution to the project will now come from bonds backed by toll road revenue. In addition, Congressional action is needed before the FTA can award this agreement. The $3 […]
[…] Shielding NJ Transit from this round of cuts further solidified the Governor’s consistent record of transit support. Governor Corzine has managed to bolster the agency despite proposing some ominously austere budgets. Over the summer, he was able to dole out an extra $60 million in fiscal year 2009 operating revenue while avoiding a fare increase. He has been a champion for the ARC Tunnel, pleading its case before Congress as a part of a balanced stimulus package, and ensuring that a portion of NJ Turnpike and Garden State Parkway toll revenue was dedicated to the project. […]