PORTSMOUTH, R.I. -- Crowding the auditorium at Portsmouth High School, hundreds turned out Monday night to oppose the imposition of tolls on the new Sakonnet River Bridge.
Larry Fitzmorris, president of the Portsmouth Concerned Citizens, said people here want to convince Governor Chafee and the General Assembly that they made a mistake last year when they approved turning the new Sakonnet River Bridge over to the state Turnpike and Bridge Authority. The authority plans to collect tolls in order to maintain the bridge.
State Transportation Director Michael P. Lewis acknowledged the unpopularity of the toll plan. Urging people to fill seats closer to the front, Lewis joked that, near the front, "You're closer to me so you can throw things at me easier."
People living, working and running businesses that depend on crossing the bridge are rebelling at the prospect of paying a toll every time they, or their customers, cross.
Joseph Clark, the director of business development for the town of Portsmouth, called the toll plan "discriminatory and unfair" and said that tolls will be borne disproportionately while gas tax money is spent elsewhere.
Lewis told the crowd that the state had underinvested in its bridges, and that his agency is strapped for money, partly because of the decline of the state gasoline tax as a revenue source.
By Bruce Landis