Gov Walker says he's open to tolling (for the 1st time I can remember)

I've said it before, I'd be open to tolls at the boarders, but not from Milwaukee to Waukesha.  What do you think?

via The Wisconsin State Journal by

BELOIT — Gov. Scott Walker on Tuesday signaled he’s open to charging tolls on Wisconsin’s Interstates, but with a key condition: linking it to a reduction in the state’s 30.9-cent-per-gallon gas tax.

Walker also said an impasse over the state’s next transportation budget risks costly delays to billion-dollar highway projects now under construction. That includes a $1.2 billion expansion of Interstate 39-90 from the Madison area to the Illinois state line.

The Interstate formed the backdrop for Walker’s remarks in a press conference at a Beloit rest stop.

Republicans who control the state Assembly have proposed seeking federal approval to toll Interstates, which they say would help stabilize road and bridge finances in the long term. Interstate tolling would take years and hundreds of millions in upfront costs to implement. The first step would be to seek federal approval, the granting of which is not certain.

State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said this month that tolling “is something that needs to be explored.”

Walker said Tuesday that a tolling plan “would be something we’d look at.”

“But it would have to include a reduction in the gas tax for Wisconsin residents,” Walker added. He did not specify how much of a reduction would be necessary.

The complete story here> Scott Walker says he's open to tolling


DES PLAINES, IL - AUGUST 27: Traffic is seen pulling up to an Illinois Tollway toll collection area August 27, 2004 in Des Plaines, Illinois. Illinois Governor Rod R. Blagojevich has unveiled a plan for the future of the Illinois Tollway. The 10-year, $5.


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