N.J. Officials Look at Toll Hikes

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NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Rates could increase on New Jersey’s two largest toll roads by 20% in the next five years as state officials look for ways to fund $2.3 billion in roadway construction.

Department of Transportation officials are considering the toll hikes on the Garden State Parkway and the New Jersey Turnpike as one of four revenue-generating strategies to pay for the road projects. The proposals are detailed in a confidential transportation document obtained by the Star-Ledger of Newark.

State Transportation Commissioner James Weinstein told the Star-Ledger that the proposals have not been reviewed in depth and have not been sent to Gov. Christie Todd Whitman.

Another option would radically revise the way the toll roads spend their money. The plan suggests shipping parkway and turnpike tolls to Trenton to be placed in a general transportation pot where they could be used to pay for work on state roads. The DOT would decide how to spend the money.

he third proposal would free up money for construction by having the state take over the $46.8 million annual cost for State Police patrols on the toll roads, a cost now paid by the parkway, turnpike and Atlantic City Expressway.

The most sweeping change would come under a fourth option, a “unified capital improvement program” that would have the DOT commissioner decide how all transportation money in the state is spent.