New push for two-way Verrazzano toll
Staten Island Congressmember Max Rose led the press conference on a federal effort to restore
the Verrazzano Bridge’s two-way toll. Politicians joining him included, clockwise from
bottom left, Councilmember Margaret Chin, state Senator Brian Kavanagh and Conressmembers
Nydia Velazaquez and Jerrold Nadler.
Verrazzano would drastically slash traffi c congestion in
Lower Manhattan.
Sam Schwartz Engineering’s report, headed by the
transit expert revealed that up to 137 vehicles per hour
could be removed from westbound Canal, Watts and
Houston streets with a two-way bridge toll.
These corridors are where vehicles head westbound
toward the Holland Tunnel. With Staten Island-bound
traffi c on the Verrazzano being tolled — but not Manhattan
bound traffi c — Schwartz estimated that 70
percent of westbound trips to New Jersey take the route
through Manhattan instead of the I-278 route through
Staten Island.
“Staten Island and South Brooklyn have been used
as a cheap thoroughfare for far too long,” Rose said at
the press conference. “The status quo is not working for
Staten Islanders and South Brooklynites who are living
through nightmare commutes every single day. This plan
to bring split tolling to the Verrazzano will help by dramatically
decreasing commuter traffi c in Staten Island
and Brooklyn, while also reinvesting future revenue into
the buses and public transit options that Staten Island
and South Brooklyn deserve.”
“The M.T.A. applauds Representatives Rose, Nadler
BY LINCOLN ANDERSON
‘For whom the bridge tolls” has been a thorny
issue for the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge for
decades, following its change to one-way tolling
back in the 1980s.
The result was that Staten Islanders no longer had to
pay a toll to return to their home borough and that congestion
at toll plazas there was cut. But the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority lost millions of dollars in annual
revenue and congestion was increased in Downtown
Manhattan and Brooklyn.
But that could all change soon, as congressional Democrats
are now, at last, pushing new legislation to restore
a two-way toll on the Verrazzano.
Congressmembers Max Rose, Jerrold Nadler and Nydia
Velazquez, joined by other local politicians, held a
press conference on Staten Island early on the morning
of Sun., April 28, with Patrick Foye, the M.T.A. chairperson,
to announce federal legislation to reinstate two-way
tolling on the Verrazzano, plus increase transportation
investments for Staten Island and South Brooklyn.
The proposal is to split the current $19 one-way toll
to Staten Island into a $9.50 toll going in each direction.
Existing discounts for Staten Islanders would continue
to apply.
In addition, it’s projected a balanced two-way toll
would also bring in an additional $10 million to $15
million per year for the M.T.A. from drivers who would
otherwise be so-called “toll evaders” — meaning drivers
who try to avoid tolls by taking alternate routes to
circumvent them.
The current one-way toll on the Verrazzano-Narrows
Bridge is the only toll in the United States that is federally
mandated. As a result, an act of Congress is required to
change it.
A source said the legislation has “a broad base of support
from all stakeholders.”
Rose last week wrote an op-ed in the Staten Island
Advance saying that a two-way Verrazzano toll would
both increase revenue for the M.T.A. — that could be
used on projects in Brooklyn and Staten Island — as well
as cut traffi c congestion.
The one-way Verrazzano toll has been the scourge
of Downtown Manhattan, which has been hammered
with excessive traffi c because of it. A report released last
year that was commissioned by the Hudson Square Connection
Business Improvement District revealed what
Downtowners have long known: A two-way toll on the
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COURTESY MAX ROSE’S OFFICE
and Velázquez’s efforts to improve transportation options
and reduce congestion on Staten Island, restoring
two-way tolling to the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge,”
Foye said. “Given today’s technology, there is no reason
to require tolls only in one direction on this important
crossing, and we look forward to rationalizing the collections
so they match every other tolled bridge in the
nation, helping to fund the next M.T.A. capital plan, including
much-needed investments in Staten Island and
Southern Brooklyn.”
“After more than two decades working on this issue,
I am extremely proud to stand here today with my colleagues
in Congress as we announce federal legislation
to fi nally restore two-way tolling on the Verrazzano-Narrows
Bridge,” Nadler said. “The restoration of toll collection
in both directions, using electronic tolling that does
not require stops at a toll plaza, will greatly improve traffi
c and congestion in Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan,
while also capturing new vital funding for the M.T.A.
from out-of-state trucks, who no longer will avoid a
toll entering New York City via Staten Island in order
to escape the charges on the Hudson River bridge and
tunnel crossings. All New Yorkers, will reap the benefi ts
of the restoration of two-way toll collection, from new
additional revenue for the M.T.A. and fewer trucks on
the Staten Island Expressway, Gowanus Expressway,
Manhattan Bridge and Canal and Broome Sts. in Lower
Manhattan.”
“For far too long, the one-way tolling system on the
Verrazzano Bridge has resulted in excessive commercial
traffi c making its way across Staten Island and then
through Brooklyn neighborhoods as trucks seek to avoid
local tolls,” Velázquez said. “The solution being announced
today will mean less congestion, safer streets
and better air quality in our communities. It will reduce
wear and tear on Brooklyn, Manhattan and Staten Island
infrastructure like the B.Q.E., Gowanus Expressway,
Manhattan Bridge and Canal St.”
“We’ve always understood that it will take federal and
state cooperation to change this,” said state Senator Brian
Kavanagh. “Fewer cars and trucks circumventing the
existing toll will mean less traffi c congestion, better air
quality and more revenue for public transportation. It’s
particularly critical at this moment, as we work to minimize
the impact of the B.Q.E. reconstruction project that
looms large over communities I represent in Brooklyn.”
8 May 2, 2019 CNW Schneps Media
/bestofnewyorkcity.com