Just say no to a $7 toll.
That was the message to Gov. Deval Patrick during a meeting yesterday morning with legislators mostly from the North Shore and suburbs west of Boston. Representatives had differing ideas on how to address the ballooning transportation costs, but virtually all rejected the proposal of the Turnpike Authority to double tolls at the Ted Williams and Sumner tunnels, probably starting in April.
"We just began the conversation," said state Rep. Mary Grant, D-Beverly. Part of that conversation, she said, involved alerting the governor to the amount of anger generated by the toll increase proposal.
"That message was delivered loud and clear," Grant said, "that (increase) is going to be unacceptable."
In a Statehouse meeting room crammed with about 50 people, Patrick was told that the threatened rise "is grossly unfair to our region," Grant said. "And he heard it." She described the governor as "focused" on the problem, which includes closing a multibillion dollar budget deficit.
Any solution, Grant believes, ought to aim at all of the state's transportation needs. It might involve tolls and gas tax increases, among other things. It should address not only the costs borne by the authority because of the Big Dig, but the huge shortfalls at the MBTA.
State Rep. Lori Ehrlich, D-Marblehead, joined Grant in calling for a "comprehensive" solution to the problem, noting that a "piecemeal" approach could cost more in the long run.
"Everything was on the table," she said. "(Patrick) seemed willing to consider a different approach."
She described telling the governor that a $7 toll could total $1,800 in a year for a regular commuter. "And these people are barely getting by now."
It was a productive conversation, she said. "This was a meeting that at least indicated a willingness to consider something more comprehensive."
State Rep. Ted Speliotis, D-Danvers, isn't so sure that a comprehensive solution is warranted. For one thing, he warns that an increase in the gas tax could total over 20 cents a gallon on top of the 44 cents that people already pay in state and federal taxes.
"It makes me nervous," he said.
The fact that most Danvers residents don't use the tunnels may factor into his view, Speliotis said.
Nevertheless, he said, "This toll increase is like an alarm going off." It will have voters asking, "How crazy are we?" In opposing it, Speliotis also stressed the unfair burden on North Shore residents.
Recently, some legislators, including Senate Majority Leader Fred Berry, D-Peabody, have suggested doing away with tolls altogether in favor of a gas tax.
But when the idea was proposed yesterday, Speliotis said, the governor seemed discouraged by it.
In a written statement, the governor's press secretary, Kyle Sullivan, said, "The governor and legislators had a very productive discussion relative to the long-standing transportation funding challenges facing the state, as well as their thoughts on comprehensive transportation reform."
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