This is a view of the South Grand Island Bridge toll barriers gone. Looks good doesn’t it….
I have a new angle to this fight and if you listened to WBEN and my call to Kevin Hardwick and Senator George Maziarz you are in the loop. Moe to come on this angle very soon.
Demand Removal of Grand Island Toll Barriers
Two groups are sending a message to Governor Spitzer and the Thruway Authority: Remove the Grand Island tolls. News 4’s Rob Macko has more on Saturday’s protest.
The effort to remove the Grand Island tolls is gaining momentum, but is the Thruway Authority listening?
Saturday, toll opponents presented 7,800 signatures on a petition to state lawmakers.
Two groups came together in Niagara Falls Saturday morning to demand the removal of the Grand Island tolls.
It costs $1.50 to drive from Buffalo to Niagara Falls and back, or vice versa.
Brigitte Shackleton, vice chair of LaSalle Pride, said, “With the gasoline and all of the other expenses that have gone up in today’s living standard, to some people, that is quite a hardship.”
LaSalle Pride, a neighborhood group from Niagara Falls, joined forces with Rus Thompson’s No GI Tolls group to send a message to the Thruway Authority and Governor Spitzer.
Thompson said, “As we make a statement by walking across the bridges, we want him to come here and explain to us why we have to keep these tolls! And I don’t think there’s a reason he could give us why we have to keep these tolls.”
They were joined by State Senator Antoine Thompson and Assembly member Francine Del Monte.
Thompson, (D) 60th District, said, “I think that more activism like this from residents always makes government work better for the people.”
The group walked from Niagara Falls across the north Grand Island bridge to the toll barrier.
LaSalle Pride collected 1,000 signatures from toll opponents.
Rus Thompson has collected more than 6,800 on paper and on his web site, nogitolls.com.
He calls the tolls an unfair commuter tax, and says toll barriers cause traffic back-ups, create hazards for drivers, and cause environmental pollution from idling vehicles.
Thompson said, “We don’t have an alternative route. You can’t get on Niagara Falls Boulevard and drive down Niagara Falls Boulevard. It’s already overloaded. It’s time to get rid of the tolls. We have no other alternative route. It’s just time to get rid of the tolls, and I’m hoping that Governor Spitzer actually does something about it.”
Group members are asking the Governor and the Thruway Authority chairman and executive director to meet with them in Niagara Falls and justify the tolls.
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Tags: grand island tolls
