Toll Booths Can Be Done
As expected Rep. Ulysses Jones has been quiet as a church mouse concerning this proposed legislation. As I have always said this can be done, it's just a matter of putting it to a vote. This proposal has been kept pretty quiet so far. Locally I haven't heard one political analyst make this observation. But I think I get the picture now. Had this came up sooner, there wouldn't have been a need for a state lottery. At least the idea wouldn't have been as attractive as it seemed. We Tennesseans love the kids. I attribute this backdoor deal to Rep. Jones, but of course he isn't solely responsible. He is just the only elected official that looked me in the eye and lied. In regards to whether we could or couldn't do this.
Meet the people who brought this to fruition. Former TDOT chief of staff "Velma Jones" a now toll-booth lobbyist. And state Representative " Phillip Pinion" D-Tenn., who sponsored the "Tennessee Tollway Act". I have yet to hear anyone tell them they couldn't do this, or present any kind of opposition. Even Governor Bredesen has expressed his approval. It has become advantageous for someone to put it on the table. Now all of a sudden we have all these factors that make it feasible. That were there all the time. Nothing has changed except for the fact that someone has secured $4.1 million in contracts to lobby on it's behalf. Read more on the subject, click the link below:http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/16/1643.asp
posted by Common at
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Tolls needed to fund Memphis bridge
TDOT: Usual financing would delay span decades
By Tom Charlier (Contact), Memphis Commercial Appeal
Monday, July 28, 2008
While motorists in the St. Louis area can use more than a half-dozen bridges to cross the Mississippi River, drivers in Memphis are limited to two -- only one of which was built after the first half of the 20th Century.
But if a badly needed third vehicle bridge is to built anytime soon, it'll have to be funded at least in part by tolls, state and local transportation officials say.
"Under normal financing, it could be decades away," said Tennessee Department of Transportation Commissioner Gerald F. Nicely.
This week, TDOT will solicit public comments at a local meeting conducted as part of a legislature-mandated study of possible toll projects. It's slated for 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Central Station depot at 545 S. Main.
Under legislation adopted last year by the General Assembly, TDOT in January is to recommend one bridge and one highway to be built as toll projects.
Lawmakers wanted to test the use of tolls because federal highway dollars are disappearing at a time when construction costs are soaring.
The bridge at Memphis, estimated to cost between $500 million and $700 million, is one of four spans statewide being considered for the toll project. The others are located on the Cumberland River north of Nashville and on the Tennessee River near Chattanooga and in West Tennessee.
Citing lukewarm support and less-urgent demand for the other spans, Nicely said the Memphis bridge stands a good chance of being the one recommended by TDOT.
"I would say that project would be a very strong candidate," Nicely said. "We seem to have a pretty good level of support."
The Memphis Metropolitan Planning Organization adopted a resolution favoring the initiative, and the Memphis Regional Chamber has been a strong supporter.
The combined average daily traffic count of the 35-year-old Hernando DeSoto Bridge and the 59-year-old Memphis & Arkansas Bridge has exceeded 100,000 vehicles in recent years.
Dexter Muller, senior vice president of community development for the chamber, said traffic is rising significantly because the bridges serve the third-busiest trucking corridor in the U.S. He said traffic snarls and other problems will only grow if a new bridge isn't built.
"We need another relief valve now, much less to think about what it's going to be like in the future," Muller said.
The span also is needed because only one of the existing bridges -- the Hernando DeSoto -- is being retrofitted to resist earthquakes, he said.
The bridge would cross the river along one of five broad corridors now under study.
Officials also are considering whether to make it multi-modal span, carrying trains as well as vehicles. No rail bridges have been built over the Mississippi at Memphis in more than 90 years.
No specific tolls have been discussed for the bridge. That and other issues would be assessed in further economic studies.
Nicely said it's difficult to project how well local motorists will accept a toll bridge, especially when free alternative spans are available.
But he said there's no other option that will get a bridge built any time soon.
"It would put this bridge on a track to being done," Nicely said.
Existing bridges over the Mississippi
There currently are four Mississippi River spans -- two for vehicles, two for trains -- serving the Memphis area.
--Hernando DeSoto Bridge (vehicles): opened to traffic in 1973 and is part of Interstate 40.
--Memphis & Arkansas Bridge (vehicles): opened to traffic in 1949 and is part of I-55.
--Frisco Bridge (rail): completed in 1892.
--Harahan Bridge (rail): completed in 1916.
Bridge talk
TDOT will solicit public comments about a possible toll bridge across the Mississippi River at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Central Station depot at 545 S. Main
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