Toll Roads, need I say more?
So I assume if you have been living in the past 2 or 3 days you have heard that the toll roads are going up. Frankly, I am not happy about spending up to $3.50 a day just to get downtown and back, this of course not including gas for my car. When is a boycott in order for this kind of thing? I mean honestly, 70.00 a month just for tolls is just plain silly. And God forbid you have to pay for parking downtown, you might as well find a job in Chesterfield.
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What do you think? The RTD did a nice job on an article that is worth reading. The comments section really interested me. Here are a couple:
I heard on the radio that the RMA wants to install the “high speed” toll booths to ease the congestion on the parkway. Here is a novel idea, GET RID OF THE DAMN TOLL BOOTHS and you will solve the congestion problems!!!
Take the extra money you have to spend in tolls and make it a point to cut your spending in the city by that amount each week. Then let’s see how funny the city dewellers think tolls are when $200,000 a week less is spent in the city and they can pay more taxes to make up the difference.
70 cents? If RMA is going to slow traffic to a crawl by making drivers search for different denominations of coins, why don’t they just go ahead and bring it to a standstill by making it, say, 67 cents? The people at RMA have obviously never, ever travelled one of their freeways behind people who pay with coins. Make the toll 75 cents, three quarters even, and retain the 5 cent discount for ez-pass users.
I say okay — go ahead and raise it to .70. But for every day a pot hole goes unfixed — we pay 0.00 in tolls. Why does the RMA have the slowest smart tag readers in the state??
Scott - we can car pool — 288 to Patterson Avenue. Yeah it will take an extra 20 minutes…
Yeah no kidding! It’s very frustrating to say the least. I may have to find a new route a couple times a week just to keep my budget.
I do that drive occasionally when I am running a bit late, but probably won’t anymore. I just take Hull St Rd all the way in but I live near Rt 150 and Hull. Either which way (being Hull St all the way, Rt. 150 to I-95 or Rt 150 to Powhite to Downtown Expwy) it’s usually 15-02 mins to get in.
Looks like I will probably just stick to the main roads instead of hitting the Powhite or the Downtown Exprwy for almost all my driving.
I’d rather just telecommute… :)
I tried that commute just going down Hull to Chippenham. I’m just not that alert that early in the morning for all those lights. and all those people that are driving like they don’t have to be at work. — I may try the 288 to Patterson. But probably will just suck it up. Which really means I will be brown bagging more
According to the RMA website, the money collected at the tolls that it controls (which does NOT include the three southernmost tolls on 76; Midlothian, Courthouse, or the last one [that I forget and am too lazy to look up right now]) only goes towards work and maintenance of RMA roads themselves, as well as paying back the bonds that funded the original construction of the roads.
I agree it would be better for the tolls to be an even number, but as long as the new booths assist in the congestion that happens at the south end of the bridge (getting stuck in traffic on that bridge is more than my OCD can tolerate. I take the nickel bridge at rush hour), I’m all for it. I take that toll almost daily and have watched the new booth be built. I’m all for the progress as long as it is done in as sensical and logical a way as possible (which, I know, it’s government and all, but a girl can hope).
Blaming city dwellers like myself for RMA tolls is ridiculous.
Never wanted “expressway” in the first place. How about buses and light rail, Chesterfield?