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OPINIONS
Editorial: Turnpike tolls should be used for improvements to that road
Two stories in the news this week -- one from West Virginia, one from Ohio -- show how simple ideas can go awry when politicians see pots of gold. Both stories have to do with toll highways.
The West Virginia Parkways, Economic Development and Tourism Authority operates the West Virginia Turnpike. It relies on the tolls people pay to use the road for an assortment of projects, some of which have nothing to do with maintaining a highway. But the money is there to be used on whatever public works projects that might look good in southern West Virginia. At least, it has been.
The trouble is that the turnpike authority has barely one-third of what it needs for road improvements, according to a legislative review released this week. The review shows that 60 percent of the turnpike is in fair to poor condition. A decline in the growth of toll revenues has left the authority with between $10 million and $15 million annually for capital improvements, the study found. The price tag for such work on the 88-mile toll road averages $40 million a year.
According to The Associated Press, the report praised the Turnpike authority for shedding its non-turnpike functions. Gov. Joe Manchin is trying to phase out its economic development and tourism efforts. But the road still needs work, and an effort two years ago to increase tolls led to an uproar in the Legislature.
Meanwhile in northern Ohio, communities are criticizing a plan by Gov. Ted Strickland to divert about $20 million a year of revenues from the Ohio Turnpike into his $1.6 billion economic stimulus plan.
Strickland's goal is to create 57,000 new jobs by investing in road, bridge and water projects, along with renewable energy technologies. The plan would raise $970 million in bond sales, but turnpike revenue also would be diverted to help pay off $200 million in borrowing plus interest through 2030, according to the AP.
Here is what the public expects: If a person has to pay a toll to use a road, that money should be used on the road. Those revenues should not be raided to pay for whatever project strikes an elected official's fancy.
If motorists must pay a toll -- and that point can be argued -- the road should be the best around, not in fair to poor condition. It may be time for the Legislature to allow the Turnpike authority to charge adequate tolls. It should at least debate the question. And it behooves Strickland to show why people who use the Ohio Turnpike should pay for a large part of his economic stimulus plan, especially if it could lead to problems on that road similar to the one in West Virginia.
