Consider this, Rhode Island, before deciding whether to stick it to Newport. We’re talking about the possibility of a toll hike on the Newport Bridge, officially the Claiborne Pell Bridge.
There’s nothing firm yet. But in December, Joe Baker, State House reporter for the Newport Daily News, quoted David A. Darlington, Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority chairman, as saying that because bridge revenues don’t rise to meet growing expenses, “Every year we have to consider whether we have to increase tolls to pay our bills or cut costs.”
If that was a trial balloon, state Senate Majority Leader. M. Teresa Paiva Weed (D-Newport), gave it a healthy jab. Baker quoted her as saying, “I would absolutely and unequivocally oppose an increase in the toll.”
Still, it’s scary talk.
For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure lately, here’s a refresher lesson on Newport Bridge tolls.
Since the bridge opened in 1969, the basic charge per crossing has been $2. Many people buy ten tokens for $10, which cuts the price to $1 a trip. Or you can buy 60 tokens for $50, or 83.33 cents each. And what real Newporter doesn’t always have $50 handy for cut-rate tokens?
Take my wife and me. We regularly leave Marble Steps, our residence in Newport’s mansion district, to commute to Providence in our legacy Saturn SL1 or heritage Honda Accord.
Since the bridge authority estimates that token-users pay an average of 90 cents a trip, five round trips a week cost us $9; a conservative 50 weeks a year totals $450. We’ve been doing this for 37 years, a lifetime total of $16,650.
This does not happen anywhere else in Rhode Island.
There’s no toll planned for drivers using the relocated Interstate 195 over the Providence River, which the Providence Journal’s Bruce Landis reports will cost $577 million, up from $299 million when it was proposed in 1993.
No toll for the new Point Street Overpass over I-95, now $17 million, up from $9.6 million.
No toll for homebound bankers, heart surgeons, and hedge fund operators using the Barrington Bridge, which Landis reports may cost $22 million, up from $10.4 million.
So what makes Newport special?
I know, you’ve have had memorable times on the wrong side of the Newport Bridge.
You’ve been stung by our hyperactive parking meters that keep working until 9 pm. You’ve been ticketed or towed because your front bumper was 0.8333 inches into the yellow part of the curb.
You’ve been stiffed by shop clerks chatting on their cell phones; waited in the rain for five hours on Sunday mornings to get a bagel; couldn’t catch a glimpse of the harbor because the view was blocked by waterfront time-shares and condos; had to pay $15 to park at the beach during a weekend heat wave.
But, Rhode Island, that’s no reason to jack up our bridge tolls.
And remember: When you come to Newport — and you will — you’ll pay the tolls, too. Meaning you’ll have less spare change
