Corzine's Toll Plan Details Emerge

by: Juan Melli

Tue Jan 08, 2008 at 01:36:00 AM EST

Tolls would rise every four years and be extended to Route 440 as part of the financial restructuring plan Gov. Jon Corzine is expected to offer up in his State of the State speech today, according to individuals involved in crafting the plan.

The Star-Ledger has learned that any new or increased tolls proposed in the plan would not be collected until at least 2010, the year after Corzine would stand for re-election. A source with direct knowledge of the plan confirmed Statehouse reports of a 50 percent toll hike every four years mixed with annual cost of living increases.

That would mean the average Turnpike toll for a motorist paying in cash would rise from the current $1.92 to nearly $10 by 2022. [...]

The individuals involved in drawing up the plan said Corzine agreed to tolls on Route 440 -- five miles of highway between the New Jersey Turnpike and the Outerbridge Crossing to Staten Island -- because 30 percent to 40 percent of the motorists using the road are from out of state.