It's unfortunate that it has required things like a citizens' lawsuit to right a wrong that has for too long been perpetrated against the residents of some parts of Greater Boston, including the North Shore.
Tolls that were implemented to pay for the Massachusetts Turnpike, harbor tunnels and Tobin Bridge — major arteries for those living west and north of Boston — have been extended, increased and subverted over the years to help pay for the Big Dig.
A group called the Massachusetts Turnpike Toll Equity Trust says the expenditure of that toll money for sundry purposes is illegal. Led by activist attorney Jan Schlichtmann of Beverly, they've gone to court seeking to fix the current system, which they claim charges "some drivers to use a road system in order for most of the drivers to use it for free."
Their request for a restraining order was denied in Superior Court Tuesday. But despite Judge Herman Smith's contention that the tollpayers' suit has little chance of success, Schlichtmann is vowing to continue the fight.
Rep. Lori Ehrlich, D-Marblehead, and other members of the North Shore's legislative delegation have long maintained that it is not right that their constituents and those who commute from the western suburbs, must pay tolls to help maintain the full network of roads, bridges and tunnels known as the Big Dig. But that's been the practice since 1997 when the federal government put a cap on the amount it would contribute to what would become the most expensive public works project in U.S. history.
The state had to get more money somewhere, so why not increase the amount motorists had to pay in order to pass through the MassPike, tunnel and Tobin tollbooths?
One might argue that the tolls also serve a useful public purpose in encouraging people to use mass transit rather than driving into an already congested city. But then why are those who use I-93 to access the city from the South Shore and northwestern suburbs not subject to the same tolls?
It's clearly not fair, and language was included in the transportation reform bill passed earlier this year requiring that in the future toll money be used exclusively for the maintenance of the roads, bridges and tunnels on which they are collected.
It's now incumbent on the governor and members of the local legislative delegation to make sure that language is enforced and figure out how to equitably raise the funds needed to maintain our transportation infrastructure.
Meanwhile, regardless of how the tollpayers fare in their suit, there's a good case to be made for giving the North Shore and western suburbs priority in future transportation spending.
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