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By SUSAN M. COVER
Staff Writer 09/27/2007

enlarge Staff photo by Andy Molloy

TAKING A TOLL: Maine Turnpike toll collector Sandra Fuller collects a charge Wednesday at the toll booths in West Gardiner.

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Just hours after the vote, Gov. John Baldacci released a strongly worded statement opposing new tolls.

"I oppose the idea of adding tolls to Maine's existing Interstate highway system, and I can assure you it will not happen during my term in office," he said.

Regardless of the governor's feelings, Transportation Committee Chairman Rep. Boyd Marley, D-Portland, said the study will go forward.

"I think it's irresponsible not to at least look at it," Marley said, adding that the state Department of Transportation is facing a funding crisis.

"We're at such dire straits," he said. "The gas tax is flat, construction costs are out of control, we have 288 bridges in need of repair."

The department is projecting a $2.2 billion funding gap over the next 10 years.

The study will look at the feasibility of adding tolls to I-295 from Falmouth to Gardiner and I-95 from Augusta to Houlton.

The turnpike authority will pay $40,000 for the preliminary study, and will report back to lawmakers in January, said Maine Turnpike Authority Executive Director Paul Violette.

"Tolls are becoming a greater vehicle to assist in the funding of surface transportation," he said.

Following the governor's statement, turnpike spokesman Dan Paradee said they will follow through with the study, unless the committee tells them otherwise. "Obviously we were taken by surprise by the comments of the governor," he said. "We're simply responding to a request."

Across the country, states are creating toll authorities, with North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia as the three most recent examples, Violette said. While many states are looking for ways to fund new roads, Pennsylvania became the first state in the country to vote to institute a toll on an existing road, Interstate 80, which runs across the northern part of the state.

But federal law prohibits states from charging tolls on interstate highways, and Pennsylvania will need a change in federal law to institute tolls on existing highways, Violette said. If Maine decides to move forward with a toll, it, too, would need a change in federal law.

And while it will take an act of Congress to make it happen, Maine is considering the move at the right time. Congress will consider the reauthorization of highway legislation in 2009, at which time it may ease up on toll restrictions, Violette said.

"Every state is in precisely the same situation we are in," Violette said.

Violette told lawmakers that several legislators have approached him in the last year to ask if he would look into whether this might be a way to help generate money for state roads and bridges. He said he wanted official approval from the Transportation Committee before moving forward, because it will take time and money to conduct the study.

The initial report will look at how much money could be raised, how much it would cost to institute a toll system, and the role of existing federal regulations. If lawmakers determine it's worth looking at more closely, Violette said it would take another year for a full-fledged study.

The committee voted 12-1 for the initial phase of the study.

Rep. Doug Thomas, R-Ripley, voted against the study because he said it costs too much money.

"I think $40,000 is too much," he said. "I don't think we need to spend $40,000."

Others said it's worth at least completing the first phase. "I think considering the circumstances, it will only make sense to look at this," said Rep. Ann Peoples, D-Westbrook. "We need to look at absolutely every possibility out there."

Violette said when they've looked at extending tolls in the past, it made financial sense to institute them from Portland to Brunswick and from Augusta to Bangor. The other sections did not have enough traffic to support a toll, he said.

Thomas said it's important to consider what effect a toll would have on companies whose trucks would now have to pay more to move their goods. "If people can't afford to ship products over them, what have we accomplished," he said.

Susan Cover -- 623-1056

scover@centralmaine.com

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