To: Connecticut Transportation Strategy Board
From: John Bowman
Re: Tolls
Following are comments on tolls from John Bowman, Secretary and Executive Board Member of the Byram Neighborhood Association (BNA) on behalf of the BNA. As this meeting was called with short notice, these are preliminary comments and the BNA will provide further written comments to the TSB at a later date. This document includes a transcript of prepared oral comments intended to be delivered to the TSB at the Norwalk public meeting as well as further, more detailed, written comments.
Contact:
John Bowman
56 Ritch Ave. West
Greenwich, CT 06830
203-918-7690
Thank you in advance for considering these comments.
Sincerely,
ORAL COMMENTS TO BE DELIVERED AT THE TSB PUBLIC MEETING IN NORWALK
Good Evening, my name is John Bowman and I am the Secretary and an Executive Board Member of the Byram Neighborhood Association in Greenwich. I am here representing the Association.
First if I may make a couple of suggestions to for future public meetings.
A description of the meeting format would be helpful. I have planed to limit my comments to 3 minutes because I did not know how long I would have to speak. I did call the TSB Manager to ask, but he did not return my call.
Next, you should provide a mailing address or email address to send comments that exceed 1000 words. I brought copies of my written comments for you.
I read and re-read the entire Electronic Tolls and Congestion Pricing Study and I have paid close attention to the news reports on this issue and I have to tell you I feel like I’m watching CNN coverage of an impending hurricane that may hit my community. This hurricane will destroy our neighborhood, change our way of life, ruin the value of our homes but unlike other hurricanes, this one will come every day and there will be no opportunity to rebuild. I’m talking about a border toll on I-95 at the New York border.
There are unique topographical features of that border that need to be considered before 14,000 cars are diverted into our community every day. The Connecticut-New York border on I-95 and in Byram is a river. That river has only 3 bridges in Byram: I-95, Route 1, and the two-lane Mill St. Bridge. The roads leading to the alternate bridges are already very congested and when there’s an accident on I-95 they are impassable.
Byram road that leads to Route 1 is a road so narrow at the railroad bridge that two trucks cannot pass. At the point it intersects Route 1, there is a 15 minute plus backup at rush hour.
Mill St. is a business district that is already extremely crowded because it is a cut through for Port Chester residents and businesses. A large portion of Port Chester is closer to Exit 2 in Byram than to the Port Chester Exit 21, so those Port Chester residents use the Byram Exit now. Obviously, more will decide to cut through Byram when they can also save a few bucks by doing so.
These are problems we are trying to deal with now, 14,000 more cars a day will make this unbearable.
I should stress that the Byram Fire House is located on Mill St. about 500 feet from the border. This road is so tight at spots that a fire truck could not squeeze through even when cars try to pull over to let them pass. This would be a real problem if the area experiences non-stop traffic jams from the additional 14,000 cars a day. This will be a problem for accidents on I-95 as the Byram Fire Department is often the first responder to accidents on there.
If the border toll is implemented in Byram I can safely anticipate businesses on Mill St. closing, housing values deteriorating, and emergency services being significantly affected.
I urge you to spend some more time reviewing our unique situation before recommending border tolls
Please do not destroy our neighborhood.
Thank you.
ADDITIONAL WRITTEN COMMENTS
I have comments on several areas related to border tolls. They are arranged below by topic.
STUDY CONCLUSIONS
The Study conclusions seem to be skewed against congested corridor tolling in favor of border tolling. According to the study, 14,000 cars/day would divert off I-95 at the Byram border under the border toll proposal while 2,000 cars/day would divert off I-95 during rush hour under the congestion tolling option. Presumably, the cars diverting to Byram would be higher during rush hour, but a fully apples to apples comparison is not possible from the data in the report. In any event, it seems clear that the number of cars diverted in Byram under border tolling would be more than those diverting to Route 1 under congestion tolling.
The report goes on to conclude, in bold, that under congested corridor tolling “Route 1 would not be able to efficiently handle these diversion rates” and further concludes “Traffic diversions, including tractor trailers, to Route 1 would be a significant safety concern.” For border tolling, the report concludes, “the impacts will be significant” and “Safety issues might arise on the diversion routes.”
Remember that the 14,000 cars/day is only the Byram number. Add to that diversions in Greenwich from the Merrit of 5,200. The statewide number is 60,000/day.
I do not believe the numbers in the report justify the conclusions in the report that would seem to indicate that congestion pricing will cause more problems than border tolling. The report also refers to congestion tolling as “speculative” and did not even prepare an implementation schedule for it. I cannot understand why that concept was dismissed when it would seem more workable, based on the study, than border tolls.
AFFECT ON DOWNTOWN BYRAM
We have traffic problems in Byram due to its unique topography and the location of I-95 exits. Much of Port Chester is situated closer to Exit 2 than Exit 21 in Port Chester so many residents cut through downtown Byram to get on and off I-95. The problem is that the State line between Byram and Port Chester is a river, and there are only 3 places to cross in the area: I-95, Route 1, and Mill St. To get to Route 1 you have to take a small road that goes over a bridge that is so narrow that two trucks cannot cross it at the same time. It then feeds to Route 1 at a crowded point and there is already a 15 minute backup there at rush hour. Mill St. is a 2-lane small bridge that feeds into the already congested downtown area of Byram. Traffic at rush hour there is backed up constantly, so much that there are ongoing disputes between Port Chester and Greenwich officials over the traffic light settings that, when adjusted to relieve one problem, always cause another. These problems were exacerbated 5 years ago when Port Chester developed its waterfront with several “box stores” that brought more traffic, including delivery trucks, through Byram.
Traffic in Byram is at the tipping point and if the expected 14,000 vehicles/day were to be added to the mix, it would be a disaster. They would all have to cross the Byram river at one of the two other bridges and local residents would have no where to hide, because there are no small road shortcuts available to residents – they have to use the same bridges to cross the river or drive miles away to get to other crossing points.
More study of the Byram and Port Chester areas between their respective I-95 exits is needed before there is further consideration of tolling the NY border on I-95. The fact that the border is a river with limited crossings, coupled with the largest number of vehicles expected to divert off I-95, makes it unique in Connecticut and the border toll could be a disaster for Byram and Port Chester.
COST TO THE TOWN OF GREENWICH
To deal with increased truck traffic on Mill St. in Byram, caused by the development in Port Chester, Greenwich has had to devote police manpower to enforce no through-truck traffic ordinances. Unfortunately, because of cost considerations, the Town cannot devote police resources to this effort every day as this is not currently a top priority. The cost of police manpower is born by the Town, while ticket revenues go to the State. If border tolls are instituted and the expected 14,000 vehicles/day do start streaming through Byram, the Town would be forced to devote probably 2-3 police officers 24/7 to enforce no through truck ordinances and alleviate at least some of the traffic caused by the new tolls. Again, costs would go to the Town, but ticket revenues would go to the state. While this effort would likely be akin to bailing a sinking ship with a shot glass, it would have to be done and would be very costly.
Additionally, the increased traffic would no doubt lead to more accidents, necessitating the Town to devote more police, fire and emergency resources to deal with the affects of the tolls. We see it now, when there is a major accident on I-95 cars fly through town and go through red lights as drivers become frustrated dealing with traffic delays.
The TSB must consider the costs to the Town of Greenwich and ways to reimburse the Town for costs incurred as a result of the tolls.
STATE MANAGEMENT OF THE TOLLS
The experience with the State’s design and running of the Greenwich Weigh Station give reason to be concerned about how it will design, build and operate a border toll, or any toll system.
- The Greenwich Weigh Station design is flawed and it fills with trucks in about 4-5 minutes and must be closed until they clear.
- When the station first opened and for some years after that, the station operators did not bother to close the station when it filled up. Trucks lined up in the first lane of the highway back to the State border, sometimes for hours. Cars entering the highway at Exit 2 were backed up and could not get on without dangerously trying to pull into the two moving lanes with trucks blocking their view. Often, cars just backed down the Exit 2 ramp because they saw a wall of trucks and figured the whole highway was backed up. Local legislators urged them to stop this practice, but it took legislators (Dolly Powers) to pass a law stating that the station had to close if trucks were backed up to the highway. This should not be necessary but DOT and Public Safety didn’t seem to care until a law, which the State Police fought, was enacted.
- When the station opened in the early ’90s we were promised that new drive by technology was coming that would eliminate the need for the weigh station. That hasn’t happened.
- Currently, the law allows vehicles to park on the shoulder of I-95. This has been the case since the Federal law was dropped a few years ago. The Federal Government dropped that law because all but 3 states had their own laws prohibiting shoulder parking. Connecticut was one of the 3. So trucks can and do park south of the weigh station and wait for it to close. This problem could be eliminated if signs were placed on the highway prohibiting parking except in emergencies, and the State did just install some, but there is still ample parking available for truckers wishing to avoid the weigh station. It seems that this situation could be corrected but no one cares, so drivers must put up with trucks pulling onto the highway without benefit of an acceleration lane, which is a dangerous practice.
That this lack of concern is so prevalent in the operation of the Greenwich Weigh Station leads me to be concerned that toll area safety would similarly receive little or no priority. I don’t know for sure where or how that might manifest, but I have no faith that concerns will be addressed as they arise. As mentioned, I have lobbied for signs prohibiting parking on the shoulder before the weigh station for 12 years and it was finally done two months ago, and not really even done right (they only signed a small portion of the affected area).
I certainly would object if there is any effort to install a EZ-pass and cash toll lane combination with a promise of license plate photographing equipment later. I would be very concerned about highway safety in this scenario.
I would also be concerned if the State promises enforcement of no through truck rules, as it was supposed to when the Greenwich Weigh Station was installed. The State does very little patrolling, as was promised, of the Exit 2 off-ramp looking for trucks getting off to avoid the weigh station. The State has shown it does not keep promises.
AFFECT ON GREENWICH/BYRAM RESIDENTS
If 14,000 vehicles a day drive to and squeeze through the other two river crossings in Byram to avoid the tolls Byram will be ruined. Byram is a small, densely-populated community where all students walk to our elementary school and there are no buses. The community suffers now whenever there is an accident on I-95; traffic is snarled on those same alternate routes that the Study mentions. If the border tolls are implemented and the diverted cars and trucks become reality, the community will be devastated. As noted earlier, Byram residents need to cross the same two bridges to Port Chester as would the cars and trucks coming off the highway. Other concerns include:
- Housing values in Byram will drop considerably. Many will want to move because of the traffic and fewer still will want to buy there. This will lead to lower property assessments so other parts of Greenwich will have to bear a higher property tax burden.
- Businesses on Mill St. will undoubtedly close because no one will be able to get to them.
- Pollution, already a problem for Byram because I-95 runs right through it, will be much worse because of backed-up cars and trucks on the local roads.
- The Byram Fire Station sits about 500 feet from the Mill St. Bridge and traffic would severely limit the fire company’s ability to respond to fires. As it stands now, the Byram Fire company is often first responder to accidents on I-95. and the route to I-95 would be blocked by traffic. It is conceivable that the fire station would need to be moved north of Exit 2 on-ramp if the border tolls were implemented
- Emergency and police response times would also be adversely affected.
- There are already some in Byram that would like to see the Byram Exits to I-95 closed. Border tolls would probably make that a necessity and even with that, there would be considerable diversion as Exit 3 is not too far away.
AFFECT ON PORT CHESTER NY
Port Chester New York would suffer all the same problems as Byram. It is a similarly dense village and suffers already with traffic issues.
