Published: July 10, 2008 04:30 pm      

'User fees' — 07/11/08

Tolls may be the only way to pay for costly bridges

State Rep. Arnold Simpson, D-Covington, is leading an effort to prevent tolls from being placed on proposed new bridges crossing the Ohio River in Louisville and northern Kentucky. He thinks the federal government should shoulder more of the cost of building the bridges — each costing at least $3 billion — instead of expecting state and local government to foot most of the bill.

Well, no one likes tolls. However, if Congress is unwilling to approve money to build the bridges, then what are the alternatives available to Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana, the three states directly benefiting from the bridges? Kentucky certainly does not have the financial means to allocate $6 billion to $10 billion to construct the bridges.

That leaves the choice between toll bridges or no bridges at all. Safety alone makes failing to replace the two aging bridges an unacceptable alternative. It’s not a matter of if, but how to replace the bridges in two of the largest metropolitan centers in the Kentucky.

Instead of tolls, Simpson calls fees to cross the bridges “urban bridge taxes,” but other legislators have another name for tolls: “User fees.” Why shouldn’t those using the bridges be primarily responsible for paying for them? Why should residents of California, Oregon and other distant states pay for bridges across the Ohio River?

If Simpson succeeds in slowing construction of the two bridges by leading a prolonged debate over tolls, he will be adding to the cost of replacing the bridges with no guarantee of convincing Congress to pay for them. If he succeeds in killing the replacement of the bridges, he will be endangering the thousands who cross them daily.

Bridge tolls — as well as toll roads — are nothing new. They date back to the early 19th Century. Many of us can remember when there were tolls on the bridge connecting Russell and Ironton and on the bridge linking U.S. 52 with Interstate 64 in Huntington. We didn’t like them, but we paid them for the convenience of crossing the Ohio River. We’d do the same when visiting in Cincinnati and Louisville.