Author Topic: Tolls (Read 2916 times)

The former Mrs. Wiggum went to college and grad school there. She described it as a very provincial area, if that makes sense. Most people who live there seem to have grown up there. Most of my college friends who grew up there ended up back there as well. I've always enjoyed visiting, but would not be terribly fond of living there.

Evil_Conservative · « **Reply #8 on:** September 21, 2011, 02:03:35 PM »

No tolls in Nevada and our houses are cheap, fool. Don't move here if you're an idiot though. We have too many of those right now.

compaqxp · « **Reply #9 on:** September 21, 2011, 02:26:15 PM »

I've never driven on a toll road. To be honest I find the idea of toll roads crazy. I already pay enough to drive.

Gina · « **Reply #10 on:** September 21, 2011, 02:35:33 PM »

Quote from: compaqxp on September 21, 2011, 02:26:15 PM

I've never driven on a toll road. To be honest I find the idea of toll roads crazy. I already pay enough to drive.

they do take their toll on one's finances

Chris_ · « **Reply #11 on:** September 21, 2011, 02:37:48 PM »

If the roads in NJ are anything like the roads in Memphis, I'd say he has a case, because those people in Shelby County are getting ripped off.

Eupher · « **Reply #12 on:** September 21, 2011, 02:57:52 PM »

Quote from: Gina on September 21, 2011, 02:35:33 PM

they do take their toll on one's finances

Yes they do, especially when you come down the pike a ways.

Gina · « **Reply #13 on:** September 21, 2011, 03:02:09 PM »

Quote from: chris_ on September 21, 2011, 02:37:48 PM

If the roads in NJ are anything like the roads in Memphis, I'd say he has a case, because those people in Shelby County are getting ripped off.

say what?

roads in AR are shit. There is a mini speed bump on the highway every 20 ft so you just bounce down the highway.

Texacon · « **Reply #14 on:** September 21, 2011, 04:15:20 PM »

Quote from: Gina on September 21, 2011, 02:35:33 PM

they do take their toll on one's finances

Oh you're going to pay for that.

KC

Evil_Conservative · « **Reply #15 on:** September 21, 2011, 06:08:23 PM »

Quote from: chris_ on September 21, 2011, 02:37:48 PM

If the roads in NJ are anything like the roads in Memphis, I'd say he has a case, because those people in Shelby County are getting ripped off.

I used to go through a toll in Illinois, right before crossing into Wisconsin. That highway was terrible. It's still terrible, but now the state of IL has a really fancy tollbooth set up there. It's nice to see IL spend all of that toll money on a bigger and "better" toll lane.

Eupher · « **Reply #16 on:** September 21, 2011, 07:14:30 PM »

Ostensibly, toll roads are enacted so that the expense in building the road to begin with can be repaid. Invariably, the politicians and the bureaucrats love that money rolling in so much that the money is used not just in paying the cost of the road, but the infrastructure that's needed to support the freakin' toll system. You know, the kickbacks, graft, corruption, cute little signs, I-Pass systems, computers, not to mention the poor bastard standing there in an unheated toll both in the middle of January.

The cost of that poor bastard freezing his balls off in the toll booth is a drop in the bucket compared to the union construction road workers, greased palms, and other niceties all provided by the schmuck who's dropping the money in the till.

FreeBorn · « **Reply #17 on:** September 21, 2011, 07:23:04 PM »

I was looking for an excuse to even your score but no excuse needed, Euph. You nailed it.

New York is a prime example. The toll booths on the NY Thruway were sold on the public with the promise that they would be removed in twenty years, once the cost of construction of the Thruway was covered.

It opened in 1959. 1979 came and went. The toll booths are still there and always will be.

So is the constant flow of semis past my house 24/7 that are using Rt 63 as a cutoff between the border crossings to Ontario and the east coast shipping ports in order to avoid the Thruway tolls which are mighty hefty for trucks.

DixieBelle · « **Reply #18 on:** September 21, 2011, 07:50:59 PM »

Quote from: chris_ on September 21, 2011, 02:37:48 PM

If the roads in NJ are anything like the roads in Memphis, I'd say he has a case, because those people in Shelby County are getting ripped off.

amen.

Heck I pay $4.65 EACH WAY every day to take the Greenway. It's privately owned and nicknamed the "Lexus Lane" and I hate to say it, but it is worth every penny because it's a nice big highway, well maintained, and hardly NO traffic. Makes my commute about half what it takes if I go on the other highway. We did factor in the cost to take the Greenway when we moved out here.

NHSparky · « **Reply #19 on:** September 22, 2011, 08:20:51 AM »

Quote

Cash tolls on the George Washington Bridge, Holland Tunnel, Lincoln Tunnel, Goethals Bridge, Bayonne Bridge and Outerbridge Crossing went up from $8 to $12 on Sunday

I remember taking the 12-hour drive to Scoobie's place when she lived in VA. $50 in tolls round-trip. Most of that was in NY and NJ.

Even here, I think $4.50 a day (3 75-cent tolls each way, less 30 percent if you have EZ-Pass) is a friggin ripoff, considering the congestion. But my alternatives are two-lane deathtraps (125 or 236) that take an extra 10 miles and 30 minutes each way.

Ralph Wiggum · « **Reply #20 on:** September 22, 2011, 08:24:04 AM »

Quote from: Evil_Conservative on September 21, 2011, 06:08:23 PM

I used to go through a toll in Illinois, right before crossing into Wisconsin. That highway was terrible. It's still terrible, but now the state of IL has a really fancy tollbooth set up there. It's nice to see IL spend all of that toll money on a bigger and "better" toll lane.

And all the toll roads cost double in Illinois if you don't have an I-Pass. Which means if you're not from the state or didn't bother to get one, you're getting doubly dinged. And they brilliant folks in Springfield want to raise the tolls for everyone...again.

Just an FYI, probably the best maintained tollway in IL is I-88. Also known as the Ronald Reagan Tollway.

CG6468 · « **Reply #21 on:** September 22, 2011, 08:34:32 AM »

Quote from: Ralph Wiggum on September 22, 2011, 08:24:04 AM

And all the toll roads cost double in Illinois if you don't have an I-Pass. Which means if you're not from the state or didn't bother to get one, you're getting doubly dinged. And they brilliant folks in Springfield want to raise the tolls for everyone...again.

Just an FYI, probably the best maintained tollway in IL is I-88. Also known as the Ronald Reagan Tollway.

They're not only gonna raise the tolls (the Dim pols in Springfield kissing the asses of the tollway board), but they'll go up about 87%. What a deal! Pay to sit in traffic jams, pay to sit at tollbooths (except for IPass holders), pay to drive on the tank proving grounds they call tollways................

The toll roads were supposed to be paid off and become freeways sometime back in the 1980s.

Ralph Wiggum · « **Reply #22 on:** September 22, 2011, 08:41:43 AM »

Quote from: CG6468 on September 22, 2011, 08:34:32 AM

They're not only gonna raise the tolls (the Dim pols in Springfield kissing the asses of the tollway board), but they'll go up about 87%. What a deal! Pay to sit in traffic jams, pay to sit at tollbooths (except for IPass holders), pay to drive on the tank proving grounds they call tollways................

The toll roads were supposed to be paid off and become freeways sometime back in the 1980s.

I seem to recall that either George Ryan or Blago (gasp!) had suggested at one point when they were governor that they would eliminate the tollways completely. Wish I could remember which one, but I would have gladly approved that plan.

CG6468 · « **Reply #23 on:** September 22, 2011, 08:50:32 AM »

Quote from: Ralph Wiggum on September 22, 2011, 08:41:43 AM

I seem to recall that either George Ryan or Blago (gasp!) had suggested at one point when they were governor that they would eliminate the tollways completely. Wish I could remember which one, but I would have gladly approved that plan.

They're merely another example of a political ripoff, which is SOP in this ****ed up state.

News:

Author Topic: Tolls (Read 2916 times)