Bridge Over Troubled Waters

by Megan Arabie and Precocia Parlow

Besides electing a president, Tuesday, November 6, was also a referendum on the Crescent City Connection Tolls. The three parishes of Orleans, Jefferson, and Plaquemines all got to have their say on the subject. 58% of Orleans, 46% of Jefferson, and 44% of Plaquemines voted to keep the tolls. In the end, this important tax renewal passed by only a sixteen vote difference.
There has been great controversy as to where the money, from the tolls, is going. Toll opponents have argued that the state has misused the $400 million collected for the purpose of the bridge and adjacent roadway. They claim the monies, instead, were used to maintain the Westbank Expressway. The money was originally earmarked for maintenance of the two structures and for the Crescent City Connection police and the administration. Few people know that $22 million is collected annually from the toll booths.
Opponents say that although West Bankers pay the majority of the toll revenue, they have been shorted when it comes to giving back to the community with the money. They claim the money has become a fund for ferries and road projects around the entire state. Over 200 West Bank businesses have opposed the renewal of the toll. They also think it's unfair to have only the West Bankers pay when they cross the bridge, and not the East Bankers.
Proponents of the toll tax said that eliminating the tolls could put the region's security and progress to a halt because the bridge and expressway would have to fight other structures across the state for funding. If the bridge fees were discontinued, the Louisiana Department of Transportation and
Development would stop collecting at the end of the year and have to find a way to direct traffic after the booths are removed. The bridges would also be dirtier, with more debris, because the  decrease in funding would curtail daily clean up.
Haynes Academy, on the East Bank, boasts 35 West Bank students. Julia Vedros, a sixth grader from Harvey, says that it takes her about thirty-five minutes to get to school everyday. She dislikes the tolls but was uncertain about where this revenue goes. East Bank sophomore, Victoria Jones, travels the bridge for volleyball clinics on weekends. She sides with renewing the tax because it pays for lighting and trash pickup. But, she added, “…if the vote was different and the toll didn't stay, then I guess there are other ways that those things could still be possible.”
It took several days for poll commissioners to validate the toll votes but, in the end, we’ll still be passing the toll booths and paying our dollar for years to come.