Bristol Business Owners Fear Bridge Toll Will Hurt Residents, Tourism and Business

Many Bristol business owners and nonprofit managers are in opposition to  on the Mount Hope Bridge in fear that a toll will decrease tourism and hurt the local economy.

"The Mount Hope Bridge is surely an economic/business lifeline for this
peninsula," says store owner Linda Arruda. "It is truly a 'local' conduit for those who live in the East Bay and on Aquidneck Island who shop and do business throughout the East Bay and in Bristol itself."

Karen Binder, executive director of Blithewold, in particular is worried about how the tolls could affect tourism and the number of people who visit the mansion.

"Any tax or toll can impact tourism," Binder says. "Especially in Bristol, where the museums and cultural attractions bring tourists into town. These people may not choose to come into Bristol and spend dollars locally anymore."

Binder says that since the Newport and Bristol Tourism and Visitors Bureau formed,  has seen a significant increase in visitors coming to Bristol from Newport. Binder says the number of visitors has gone up 10 percent each year for the last two years.

"Tourists are already paying $8 to cross the bridge to go into Newport, plus hotel taxes, and now we are going to ask them to pay another toll to come into Bristol? It could really adversely impact our business."

Paul Mancieri, owner of , remembers the Mount Hope tolls in the 1990s and believes reinstating the tolls will not only create major traffic congestion and deter some tourism, it will also be bad for local business.

"When they got rid of the tolls, it created a link between the island and East Bay that had never been there before," Mancieri says. "It was almost like we could market over there. I have to say that’s a big part of my business, the island. Tolls would affect the way I do business in terms of prices and marketing."

Mancieri says he is not afraid to pay the tolls but is fearful that the island and East Bay residents are going to change their behaviors.

"I think putting tolls on the bridge is a huge mistake" he says. "People are going to abandon the idea to go to the island or come here for leisure."

Mancieri believes local residents who will be hurt most by the tolls, noting that the Mount Hope Bridge is "not a highway bridge, it is a local bridge," and that by tolling commuters the burden is put on the local, hardworking taxpayer who understands the value of a buck.