Gloomy drivers: Hike to take toll

LYNN – Convinced that toll hikes are all but inevitable, worried commuters like Sharon Purcell are already planning alternate routes from the North Shore to Boston.Purcell takes Route 16 and other secondary routes from Lynn to her job in Cambridge and says the weekday commute is already clogged with commuters. Len Ellis drives the same route bypassing the Ted Williams and Sumner tunnels.”We have one big traffic tie up,” Ellis said.Ellis and Purcell were not among the commuters who packed a Monday night City Hall hearing to complain to state officials about proposed toll hikes that could top out at $7 a trip through the tunnels. But they worry those officials will ignore the public outcry and go ahead with plans to hike tolls by late winter.The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority Board of Directors voted in November to hike Sumner Tunnel and Ted Williams Tunnel tolls from $3.50 to $7. Monday night’s hearing was one of four scheduled to give drivers a chance to comment on the hikes.Elected officials like Lynn’s Steven Walsh have already weighed in on the hike with Walsh saying it will transform Route 1A to the Ted Williams into a road for the rich used only by commuters who can afford annual toll costs estimated by The Item at $1,440 for Fast Pass commuters receiving a proposed $1 discount off the increase.Walsh filed legislation Nov. 18 proposing a toll freeze until Dec. 31, 2009 or until Gov. Deval Patrick’s transportation reform package is passed by the Legislature.Anti-toll advocates took more immediate action against the proposed hike by asking commuters to mark the Boston Tea Party’s 235th anniversary Tuesday by using handfuls of change to pay their tolls.Gov. Deval Patrick has pushed toll hikes, estimated to generate $100 million, as a necessary step to close some of the transportation financing gap facing the state, estimated at up to $20 billion over 20 years.Lawmakers have clamored for Patrick to deliver a long-promised package restructuring the transportation system, which Patrick says he will file early next year. Many legislators insist that the tolls should not increase without an accompanying reform.Turnpike Executive Director Alan LeBovidge has warned legislators that the agency expects complicated financial instruments – known as “swaptions” – will have to be exercised if the toll increase is blocked by lawmakers. Legislators pushed back, arguing that toll increases, if necessary, should be more limited, and accompanied by a larger menu of savings and revenue measures.Walsh said he doubted LeBovidge’s suggestion that “bondholders are going to downgrade because we want to come up with a longer-term plan that’s more stable and more creative than what the authority has come up with.”We want to know what you think by taking part in The Item’s poll on the proposed toll hike. To vote and to view a video associated with this story, visit www.itemlive.com.