Effort to Eliminate Grand Island Tolls Gains Steam

A bill which seeks the transfer of jurisdiction of the I-190 from the Thruway Authority to the State Department of Transportation, which could potentially get rid of the tolls at the Grand Island Bridges, took an important step forward Tuesday.

The bill passed the State Senate’s Transportation Committee by unanimous vote. The fact that it breezed through committee actually came as a mild surprise to its sponsor, Republican State Senator George Maziarz of Newfane.

When he first introduced the measure in February, Maziarz inferred that people shouldn’t get their hopes too high. That’s because while tolls — largely paid by Western New Yorkers –are what currently maintain the road, a takeover by the State D.O.T would mean those costs would shift to taxpayers from across New York, including those downstate.

But with the solidarity for the measure shown in committee, Maziarz says it seems to be in the “EZPass” lane as far as his house is concerned. “Very rarely have I seen a bill passed through a committee unanimously that didn’t end up on the floor and get passed,” Maziarz said.

Rus Thompson, a community activist and Grand Island resident who’s been beating the drum loudly to remove the tolls here for years, couldn’t have been more pleased. “This is a great day, because it’s probably one of the biggest hurdles it has to go over in the Senate,” said Thompson. “I feel confident we’ll get the votes in the Senate for it to pass. My concern now is in the assembly.”

According to the bill’s Assembly sponsor, Buffalo Democrat Sam Hoyt, the measure has yet to appear before a committee and probably won’t until more “pressing matters” are cleared up, namely the state budget. “I think we’ll be able to pay much closer attention to legislation such as this once we’ve completed the budget process, which should be in the next couple of days,” Hoyt said.