Shore area residents have every reason to be irate over the proposal by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority to raise tolls on the Garden State Parkway by more than 100 percent and the Atlantic City Expressway by 50 percent in four years time. This, especially after it was made unmistakably clear to the Governor at his toll road monetization town hall meetings that the public demands greater cuts in government spending as opposed to toll hikes.
This Trenton-sanctioned scheme disparately targets a select segment of the population, heavily based in the Shore region, to shoulder a financial burden created by failure to adequately fund our state’s transportation needs. Instead, over the past several years, taxpayer resources have been invested into other initiatives including hundreds of millions of dollars in pork barrel projects.
More insulting than the blatant disregard of the people’s call for government spending reform is the hearing schedule for the toll hike plan. Only three hearings were scheduled, none in the Shore area. Two of the three hearings will take place during business hours. This, in our opinion, was done deliberately to exclude a significant portion of the affected general public from participating.
Not surprisingly, the only hearing with convenient, appropriate hours is set to take place in Camden County. The two remaining hearings will take place in Bergen and Middlesex counties. Ironically, Shore area residents may be further deterred from attending these hearings because of the cost in tolls to drive there.
If it were not such a mockery of due process, an unalienable right in any democracy, the wide berth around the Shore region would be laughable. Instead, it has been deliberately made difficult for Shore residents to exercise their right to speak out at these meetings. If there is to be any integrity in this process, then there should be more than just three hearings.
The Governor felt compelled to hold town hearings in each county when trying to sell his monetization plan. At the very least, hearings should be scheduled in Ocean, Atlantic, Monmouth and Burlington counties, considering the serious economic implications involved for not only residents, but businesses as well.
Perhaps the biggest slap in the face for local residents is that a significant portion of the revenue generated from the toll hike increases would be used to pay for a second Hudson rail tunnel to Manhattan, a project that the state of New York is not kicking in one red cent, under the current agreement. New Jersey residents will pay a heavy price, $1.25 billion, as it would appear our state was outmaneuvered.
The time and financial resources wasted in the Governor’s failed toll monetization scheme – the obvious precursor to this latest attempt to raise tolls – could have been more wisely spent by Trenton in negotiating a better deal for the state. Regrettably, it would seem that even in these troubling economic times, the state is indifferent to increasing the cost of living for residents.
For Ocean County, the situation becomes even more dire in that residents are essentially held hostage to the Parkway. By not committing to any needed upgrade for the roadway over the years, the state has ensured that Route 9 is utterly incapable of handling an increase in traffic volume. Yet, this could be exactly what is in store if residents on fixed incomes or businesses struggling to survive have no choice but to divert to this road rather than pay higher tolls.
Nearly every component of this latest toll hike plan demonstrates a complete disregard for the financial struggles of Shore Area residents. Without question, it is an affront to area residents and must be rejected in the strongest means possible. It is important to recognize the persistence shown by Trenton and the Administration to increase tolls.
If this latest attempt is successful, what is to say that another one is not too far down the road. There is a noticeable gap in the time period (11 years) between the second and third scheduled toll increases under the plan. That may turn out to be too long for Trenton; not when there are so many projects in North Jersey to fund.
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Similar Posts:
- Connors, Rumpf & Van Pelt: Toll Hike Hearing Schedule Obvious Attempt to Exclude Shore Area Residents
September 10, 2008 - Ciesla, Wolfe & Holzapfel Call on Turnpike Authority to Hold Toll Hearings in Monmouth & Ocean Counties
September 30, 2008 - Connors, Rumpf & Van Pelt: Shore Region Hit Hardest by Toll Hike Scheme
September 9, 2008 - Connors, Rumpf & Van Pelt: NJ Businesses Should Be First in Line for Infrastructure Projects
November 6, 2008 - Voters and Procedure Should Determine Municipal Consolidation - Not Trenton
December 17, 2008
