State officials say Tim Eyman's latest initiative, to require the Legislature to approve tolls instead of the state Transportation Commission, would undermine long-term efforts to find an alternative to gas taxes to help finance highway construction.
Eyman, on the other hand, says Initiative 1125 would make lawmakers more accountable for raising and spending billions of dollars in tolls, and would make tolling fairer.
The Seattle Times has more details. Tolling hasn't been an issue around here in recent years because they didn't really work in the past (folks around here went out of their way to go around the Maple Street Bridge for instance, rather than pay 25 cents to use it)but do you have any thoughts?
2 comments:
Since I-695 I have voted against every Eyman initiative, as they are no benefit to people in Washington. We drove around the Maple Bridge when it was tolled and with so many other alternatives I don't think tolls will work here.
When they first opened the Maple bridge it was a dime toll, but even at a dime it did not make enough to pay the operating costs and the interest on the bonds.
In my recollection, seems like I-695 is where things really started to decline as far as road funding and condition. I remember when the Maple Street toll was a dime and even then no one payed it. My parents would take us across it now and then for the novelty of it but I don't recall using it very often.
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