BY LINCOLN ANDERSON | “For whom the bridge tolls” has been a thorny issue for the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge for decades, following its change to one-way tolling back in the 1980s.
The result was that only drivers heading to Staten Island had to pay a toll and that congestion at toll plazas on the island was cut. But the Metropolitan Transportation Authority lost millions of dollars in annual revenue and congestion was increased in Downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn.
But that could all change soon, as congressional Democrats are now, at last, pushing new legislation to restore a two-way toll on the Verrazzano.
Congressmembers Max Rose, Jerrold Nadler and Nydia Velazquez, joined by other local politicians, held a press conference on Staten Island early on the morning of Sun., April 28, with Patrick Foye, the M.T.A. chairperson, to announce federal legislation to reinstate two-way tolling on the Verrazzano, plus increase transportation investments for Staten Island and South Brooklyn.
The proposal is to split the current $19 one-way toll to Staten Island into a $9.50 toll going in each direction. Existing discounts for Staten Islanders would continue to apply.
In addition, it’s projected a balanced two-way toll would also bring in an additional $10 million to $15 million per year for the M.T.A. from drivers who would otherwise be so-called “toll evaders” — meaning drivers who try to avoid tolls by taking alternate routes to circumvent them.
The current one-way toll on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge is the only toll in the United States that is federally mandated. As a result, an act of Congress is required to change it.
A source said the legislation has “a broad base of support from all stakeholders.”
Rose last week wrote an op-ed in the Staten Island Advance saying that a two-way Verrazzano toll would both increase revenue for the M.T.A. — that could be used on projects in Brooklyn and Staten Island — as well as cut traffic congestion.
The one-way Verrazzano toll has been the scourge of Downtown Manhattan, which has been hammered with excessive traffic because of it. A report released last year that was commissioned by the Hudson Square Connection Business Improvement District revealed what Downtowners have long known: A two-way toll on the Verrazzano would drastically slash traffic congestion in Lower Manhattan.
Sam Schwartz Engineering’s report, headed by the transit expert revealed that up to 137 vehicles per hour could be removed from westbound Canal, Watts and Houston streets with a two-way bridge toll.
These corridors are where vehicles head westbound toward the Holland Tunnel. With Staten Island-bound traffic on the Verrazzano being tolled — but not Manhattan-bound traffic — Schwartz estimated that 70 percent of westbound trips to New Jersey take the route through Manhattan instead of the I-278 route through Staten Island.
“Staten Island and South Brooklyn have been used as a cheap thoroughfare for far too long,” Rose said at the press conference. “The status quo is not working for Staten Islanders and South Brooklynites who are living through nightmare commutes every single day. This plan to bring split tolling to the Verrazzano will help by dramatically decreasing commuter traffic in Staten Island and Brooklyn, while also reinvesting future revenue into the buses and public transit options that Staten Island and South Brooklyn deserve.”
“The M.T.A. applauds Representatives Rose, Nadler and Velázquez’s efforts to improve transportation options and reduce congestion on Staten Island, restoring two-way tolling to the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge,”Foye said. “Given today’s technology, there is no reason to require tolls only in one direction on this important crossing, and we look forward to rationalizing the collections so they match every other tolled bridge in the nation, helping to fund the next M.T.A. capital plan, including much-needed investments in Staten Island and Southern Brooklyn.”
“After more than two decades working on this issue, I am extremely proud to stand here today with my colleagues in Congress, Rep. Nydia Velázquez and Rep. Max Rose as we announce federal legislation to finally restore two-way tolling on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge,” Nadler said. “The restoration of toll collection in both directions, using electronic tolling that does not require stops at a toll plaza, will greatly improve traffic and congestion in Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan, while also capturing new vital funding for the M.T.A. from out-of-state trucks, who no longer will avoid a toll entering New York City via Staten Island in order to escape the charges on the Hudson River bridge and tunnel crossings. All New Yorkers, will reap the benefits of the restoration of two-way toll collection, from new additional revenue for the M.T.A. and fewer trucks on the Staten Island Expressway, Gowanus Expressway, Manhattan Bridge and Canal and Broome Sts. in Lower Manhattan.”
“For far too long, the one-way tolling system on the Verrazzano bridge has resulted in excessive commercial traffic making its way across Staten Island and then through Brooklyn neighborhoods as trucks seek to avoid local tolls,” Velázquez said. “The solution being announced today will mean less congestion, safer streets and better air quality in our communities. It will reduce wear and tear on Brooklyn, Manhattan and Staten Island infrastructure like the B.Q.E., Gowanus Expressway, Manhattan Bridge and Canal St. I look forward to working with all my colleagues as we push through the appropriations process the necessary federal legislation to enable split tolling.”
“The one-way double toll on the Verrazzano Bridge has diverted cars and trucks up the B.Q.E. and across the congested streets of Lower Manhattan for far too long,” state Senator Brian Kavanagh said. “We’ve always understood that it will take federal and state cooperation to change this, so it’s very gratifying that Congressmembers Nadler, Rose and Velázquez and the M.T.A. are committing to this plan to authorize and implement two-way tolling. Fewer cars and trucks circumventing the existing toll will mean less traffic congestion, better air quality and more revenue for public transportation. It’s particularly critical at this moment, as we work to minimize the impact of the B.Q.E. reconstruction project that looms large over communities I represent in Brooklyn.”
Correction: At one point in the original version of this article, it incorrectly stated that drivers were only tolled when going toward Staten Island after the bridge’s toll was made one-way. In fact, they were only tolled when going toward Brooklyn.
