Last weekend, while driving through Tierra Verde, an older gentleman knocked on my window. Expecting him to pull out a squeegee and start cleaning my window, I didn't respond.
But then I saw the brochures in his hand.
Those brochures outline a Florida Department of Transportation proposal to raise the tolls on the Pinellas Bayway (that section of road from 54th Avenue South in St. Petersburg down to Pass-A-Grille) and Ft. De Soto Park (a recent "No. 1 Beach" award winner).
Dr. Delay, the Times' traffic columnist, recently received one of the brochures, too. He The doc outlines the FDOT proposal and finds most of the info on the brochures is correct:
The Stop Toll Hikes pamphlet lists current tolls and proposed fees that may go into effect July 1.
The current toll to cross the Bayway is 50 cents for east-west traffic and 35 cents the original 1962 fee to head south to Fort De Soto. The hikes would bump the Bayway plaza tolls to $1.25 (or $1 for SunPass holders) and the Fort De Soto toll to $2.50 ($2 for SunPass holders). The cost of an annual pass is proposed to increase from the current $50 per year to $125. A third column ambiguously labeled "later" lists proposed hikes to $3.50 for the Bayway bridges, $7.25 to access Fort De Soto and $256 for an annual pass.
In advance of the hearing, we talked with DOT officials and asked if the information in the literature being distributed is accurate. It is, but there's more to it.
The "later" toll rates are proposed for the year 2038. Planning for a project as huge as replacing three bridges (the reason for the proposed toll hikes) requires revenue projections – in this case, decades ahead. But since "later" could mean a year from now, it's good to know it's 30 years from today.
DOT officials say they want to get the bridges replaced soon.
Hey, I'm all for replacing bridges. Last thing our tourist economy needs is a bridge collapse. But $2.50 to drive to Fort De Soto?! Already on top of the $1.25 you'll pay to get on the Pinellas Bayway?! I can take the Pinellas Bayway increase — there's a beach trolley that runs from downtown St. Pete to the beach anyway — but there is no bus to Ft. De Soto.
Maybe if it were just this toll, I'd reluctantly reach deeper into my pocket to enjoy our beautiful beaches. But, why do I get the feeling this is just the beginning of increases in taxes and fees throughout the state?
If you want to attend the DOT meeting on this issue, set your Blackberry to Wednesday, March 12 at 6 p.m. inside the St. Pete Beach Community Center.
(Photo courtesy of Mrs. Gemstone on Flikr)
This article appears in Mar 5-11, 2008.