Protesters at Memorial Building fight toll hikes

FRAMINGHAM — The message MetroWest lawmakers and residents delivered to the Mass. Turnpike Authority Board last night was clear: The unfair toll structure should not slip further into inequity.

Saddled with $2.3 billion in Big Dig debt while staring down potential bond rating trouble, the board recommended fee increases in November that would bump both the Weston and Allston tolls 75 cents, which could cost MetroWest-to-Boston commuters an additional $750 annually.

Last night in Nevins Hall, the authority held its third in a series of four public hearings on the proposed increases.

The tolls have long been criticized as an unfair burden to MetroWest drivers.

And with the possibility of that burden getting heavier, the outrage was palpable both in and out of the Memorial Building. Dozens, cold and awash in the glow of a 30-foot Christmas tree, rallied outside town hall to oppose the measure before the hearing.

"We're tired of the empty promises," Marlborough City Councilor Steve Levy, a Republican, told the crowd. "The governor promised us a change in the transportation system...we're tired of being the ATM."

Town resident Mary Connaughton, the only member of the Turnpike board to vote against the hikes, invoked Martin Luther King Jr. "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere," in denouncing the tolls as unfair. She favors eliminating the tolls altogether.

Some shouted "No more tolls!" as a man in a chicken suit toting a sign criticizing Gov. Deval Patrick mingled with the crowd on the steps of the building.

T-shirts emblazoned with a Stop the Pike Hike message were handed out.

Said Carolyn Dykema, a Democratic state rep-elect from Holliston, "Bringing labor talent (to the region) is already an issue...to place an additional burden...it just doesn't make any sense."

Inside Nevins Hall, the criticism was varied, barbed, and at times heated as more than one speaker exceeded the two-minute time limit for comments and were either shouted down by the public or shooed away by Pike spokesman Mac Daniel before the police on detail made their way to the front of the hall.

The five-member board listened to public testimony stoically for more than two hours.

State Rep. John Fernandes, D-Milford, suggested that if the authority was a private business it would have been managed into bankruptcy by now.

"And the only plan is doubling the price of your product?" he asked, alluding to a toll increase that went into effect last January.

To push toll boosts without a full-scale and specific transportation plan is irresponsible, said state Rep. Pam Richardson, D-Framingham.

"It's not sound or legitimate public policy," she said.

State Rep. David Linsky, D-Natick, was among those asking for more time. Linsky, holding a cardboard sign comparing the cost of toll hikes to gas tax increases, suggested the proposal constituted tax overkill.

Whereas the authority's operating deficit sits at $12 million, the board's plan would garner $100 million, he said.

Linsky has filed legislation that would increase the state's gas tax 11 cents.

While the Pike brought in $294 million in fiscal 2008, revenue from Linsky's proposal, if passed, could help alleviate the Big Dig debt and transportation infrastructure for the Metropolitan Highway System, therefore making the Pike tolls unnecessary.

State Sen. Karen Spilka, D-Ashland, also plans on filing a gas tax bill, as well as a proposal that would erect tolls on Massachusetts borders.

State Sen. Scott Brown, R-Wrentham, however, was wary of a gas tax increase.

Brown said Beacon Hill should show state residents "we've saved one dollar," before state officials mull a gas tax increase or a toll hike.

State Rep. Steven Walsh, D-Lynn, meanwhile, has filed legislation that could place a moratorium on toll increases until Dec. 31, 2009.

Framingham Planning Board member Tom Mahoney thought erecting tolls on I-93 in Somerville and Dorchester to raise the state's revenues was an idea worth investigating.

Jessica Cooper traveled from East Boston to voice her opposition to the hikes.

Under the board's recommendation the Sumner and Ted Williams tunnel toll rates would be boosted to $7, up from $3.50.

"You're stepping on our backs," Cooper told the Nevins crowd, as her 15-month-old daughter, Zoe, clutched at the microphone.

Delivered in a booming baritone, Framingham Town Meeting member Dave Hutchinson's message was simple: No more toll increases.

"We deserve that," he yelled, gesturing with his arms for emphasis with the board members sitting mere feet away. "We have paid and paid and paid until we cannot pay anymore. The till is empty."

The board will hold another public hearing Worcester, before taking a final vote on the matter Jan. 15.

If the toll hike is approved, lawmakers expect tolls to rise in April.