Sunday, March 15, 2015

Surprise, surprise, surprise ... said Gomer Pyle, Kerry Stemler and 1Si, as bridge tolls go on forever.


One Southern Indiana was doing that lip-synchin', Down Low ORBP Toll Funk just the other night.

Before we leave
Lemme tell y'all a lil' something
ORBP toll you up
ORBP toll you up
ORBP toll you up
ORBP toll you up uh
I said ORBP toll you up
ORBP toll you up
ORBP toll you up
ORBP toll you up

On the other hand, it isn't like we've ever looked to 1Si for meaningful content. Got drones? As for the revelation that in the absence of political representation, we'll merely be tolled forever, these important points were made at Fb:

Jeff G: The gist is that southern Hoosiers, bearing the brunt of both lost business revenue and tolls, will be paying for Kentucky road projects from now on. It will we be, though, a great time to be a realtor in Louisville.

Thomas P: And I am sure the maintenance on the non-tolled bridges will be properly attended to as they crumble due to increased usage.

Karen B: That's why they'll put tolls on them too, to cut off toll avoidance and under the guise of maintenance.

Jeff G: Yep. Shortly, non-tolled bridges and the paths to them will see substantially increased traffic. Longer term, that's an excuse to "rebuild" the bridges to enough of an extent to get around the rules about not tolling preexisting infrastructure like the did on the Kennedy. A bigger problem is that keeping tolling revenue up, i.e., making sure people drive, is a disincentive to pursue more sensible solutions like transit.

We live in a remorselessly stupid place, don't we, Kerry?

Kentucky, Indiana counting on bridge tolls until 2068, by By Marcus Green (WDRB)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Kentucky and Indiana are planning for tolls to remain on the new Louisville-area bridges at least until 2068 -- 15 years after the construction debt for the spans is paid off.

The states expect $2.3 billion in operations and maintenance costs – including for "toll operations" – over a roughly 50-year period starting in 2017, according to an updated Ohio River Bridges Project financial plan approved by the Federal Highway Administration in January.

1 comment:

w&la said...

Anyone who thinks the Sherman Minton I-64 bridge will not be tolled after the I-65 bridges "grace" period ends isn't thinking ahead.

We'll be told:

1) The Sherman Minton was found to have structural flaws discovered while it was shut down for inspection that are so extensive as to need toll revenue to fix it as well

2) It's only "fair" to toll everyone scooting past the market on their way to other places

3) This way, only those who use the bridges will pay for the bridges.