Connick to seek tolls for New Orleans motorists leaving downtown via Pontchartrain Expressway

To address stifling east bank bound traffic on the Pontchartrain Expressway, while widening the pool of motorists who pay tolls, state Rep. Pat Connick wants to impose a toll on drivers leaving downtown New Orleans via three upramps along the lakebound expressway. Connick, R-Harvey, an ardent opponent of last fall's referendum that extended tolls on the Crescent City Connection...

To address stifling east bank bound traffic on the Pontchartrain Expressway, while widening the pool of motorists who pay tolls, state Rep. Pat Connick wants to impose a toll on drivers leaving downtown New Orleans via three upramps along the lakebound expressway. Connick, R-Harvey, an ardent opponent of last fall's referendum that extended tolls on the Crescent City Connection for 20 more years, said Wednesday he is drafting legislation that would implement an electronic tolling system on the east bank of Orleans Parish as soon as Jan. 1.

But he acknowledged the proposal is a starting point to begin the discussion that will include elected officials as well as the business community, which mounted a major campaign in support of the toll extension. The proposed legislation not only would address a major traffic issue but seeks to spread its cost in a "fair and equitable'' manner,   said Connick, who has called the CCC tolls an unfair tax on West Bank residents.

During afternoon rush hour, east bank-bound traffic crossing the CCC moves at a snail's pace and often backs up past the toll plaza on the West Bank. State transportation officials have said the Pontchartrain Expressway is at full capacity, with trucks leaving the Port of New Orleans and traffic entering the elevated highway from the Central Business and Warehouse districts.

"The port is growing, which is a good thing. But that traffic is going to get worse,'' Connick said. "If the tolls are going to stay, then everybody has got to pitch in and improve the situation. Those who use that area of the bridge should participate in paying for the improvement of it. Make it fair.''

Connick said he will discuss the proposals with Jefferson Parish President John Young and the Parish Council as well as the business community.

"We need to have a starting point. If we're going to have tolls, it's got to be fair and transparent,'' Connick said.

While it is unknown how much money an east bank toll would generate, the tolls on the CCC bring in about $21 million annually. Connick said he has asked state transportation officials for traffic counts of the three upramps near Camp, O'Keefe and Calliope streets to determine what the revenue stream could be.

An alternative would be to place tolls on the riverbound exit ramps at the St. Charles Avenue and Tchoupitoulas Street exits, he said.

By a paper thin 18-vote margin out of more than 308,000 ballots, voters approved a continuation of the CCC tolls in November. But a lawsuit challenging the outcome has prompted a recount of early and absentee mail-in votes in New Orleans, scheduled for Feb. 16.

Connick's proposed legislation also would increase the number of kiosks in the area to make it easier for motorists to purchase toll tags.

He also is drafting a second bill that would mandate that, at a minimum, the first $10 million in toll revenue be bonded and used for projects along the CCC corridor. With interest rates at their lowest in years, it makes good fiscal sense, he said.

A third bill would increase the fines on trucks headed to the Waggaman landfill that litter. Fifty percent of the fine would be allocated to the jurisdiction where the violation occurred and 50 percent to the state transportation department for maintenance and operation expenses for the CCC corridor.

While trash pickup along the West Bank Expressway has improved, Connick said transportation officials have told him that the majority of trash picked up beneath the elevated road comes from trucks headed to the landfill.

"We have to enforce litter laws and we have to make an incentive for officials to enforce the laws by making a stiffer fine,'' he said. Maybe trucks will "make the extra effort to make sure loads are secure.''