Public hearing on tolls next week? Maybe

Excerpt from CT News Junkie.

Looney declined to commit to pulling together a special session before the start of the regular session on Feb. 5.

Asked if he was concerned about Rhode Island’s recent revision to its spending from truck-only tolls, Looney said their plan is still only to have tolls on large trucks on bridges.

Connecticut’s plan is exactly the same as Rhode Island’s when it comes to the size of the trucks it would toll and the number of gantries it expects to erect.

On Monday, Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo’s new budget reduced the amount of toll revenue it planned to use from $25 million to just $8.5 million.

As of last month, five of the 12 planned toll gantries in Rhode Island were in operation. That’s half the number the Rhode Island Department of Transportation had expected under a schedule released back in May.

Connecticut legislative leaders have said they expect Connecticut’s truck-only tolls to raise about $150 million to $175 million per year. That toll revenue is then expected to help Connecticut leverage federal loans.

“Federal loans – if they are even granted – are going to have to be repaid,” said Joe Sculley, president of the Motor Transport Association of Connecticut. “If truck toll revenue is not there, it will have to come from car tolls, or increased income taxes, or sales taxes, or gas taxes, or all of the above.”

Democratic lawmakers have vowed to include language in the legislation that would make it clear they have no intention of tolling passenger vehicles.

See the complete article from CT News Junkie online.