Pike board says any toll changes would be slow
Turnpike Authority Board members Tuesday outlined a handful of ways to make tolls on the highway fairer, but drivers will have to wait several more months before officials decide what action, if any, they'll take.
A status report of the board's Toll Equity Working Group outlined options such as restoring tolls on the western Turnpike and at exits 1 through 6, as well as possible changes in commercial tolls and the Turnpike extension toll options.
MetroWest drivers have long complained they pay a larger share of tolls than drivers from other regions, and have pushed for increased tolls in other areas.
The report was only the first step in the process, State Transportation Secretary and Turnpike Board Chairman Bernard Cohen emphasized.
"We're in a research mode, not a toll policy decision mode at this point," Cohen said. "We're assembling information that fulfills the commitment we made at the end of last year when the board enacted the toll increase to take a real serious look at this whole checkerboard of toll policy on the Turnpike."
It will likely be at least two months, Cohen said, before the board will begin to determine which ideas are worth pursuing.
"What we're simply trying to do now is assess the landscape of possible issues and possible solutions," Cohen said. "(We'll) discuss them many, many, many months before we're in a position to take any action.
"In May the plan is to come back with much quantitative analysis of all these options. There's some number crunching that needs to be done."
While she is gratified to see the Turnpike studying the toll equity issue, Framingham Board member Mary Connaughton said she wished the process could move faster.
"I don't need a study to tell me this thing is unfair," she said. "I know it's unfair. I would just like it done yesterday. But I do understand we have to go through a process, and I do think they're doing a good job."
Ideally, Connaughton said, the board will replace tolls on both the western Turnpike and on exits 1 through 6, where the state could raise millions.
"That's $12 million a year central Massachusetts driver are subsidizing," she said. "We have capital issues that have to be addressed. That's a clear source of funding. To me, it's quite obvious.
"The good news is it's on the table. This issue has not been addressed to any great degree by prior administrations."
Peter Reuell can be reached at 508-626-4428, or at preuell@cnc.com.
MetroWest Daily News