When will CT Pols Decide about I-95 Tolls?

Gov. Dannel P. Mallow wants to bring tolls back to I-95.

That could jam up local Westchester roads, warned NY Sen. Chuck Shumer.

The Connecticut state legislature will not hold a vote until 2017, at the earliest, on whether to reinstall tolls on its thruways, according to Democratic Senate President Pro Tem Martin Looney of New Haven.

The Hartford Courant reports that Looney made the announcement Thursday while discussing Malloy’s $100 billion plan to improve the state’s infrastructure.

To generate the funding for the project, Malloy proposes bringing back tolls, increasing the state’s gasoline tax, which already is one of the highest in the nation, and increasing the state sales tax, among other initiatives, reports the Connecticut Mirror.

Tolls have been absent from Connecticut thruways since the late 1980s, and the proposal to reinstall them already has been met with resistance from some in the legislature. In the spring of 2015, New York Sen. Chuck Schumer lent his voice in opposition to tolls being installed in Greenwich near the state line. See video below.

“Certainly, I don’t foresee tolls being adopted in the immediate future,’’ Looney told the Courant. “There has to be adoption of the lockbox first before there is any discussion of any additional transportation revenues.’’

The “lockbox” would keep all money set aside for transportation from being raided for other uses. Such a move would require a vote on a state Constitutional amendment, which Looney said he does not anticipate happening until the fall of 2016.

Patch file photo

What do you think? Should Connecticut reinstall tolls along its thruways? Let us know in the comment section below.