Opinion

Turning tollways to freeways not so easy

Posted May 07, 2009 11:00 pm

Several times a year Russell Johnson of Sugar Grove and www.notolls-illinois.com has a letter printed in the local newspapers. Every letter mentions the income the Illinois Tollway receives, the operating expenses, the presumed wasteful spending and the corruption within the agency. Is the tollway authority any more wasteful or corrupt then Washington, D.C., or Springfield?

Johnson mentions that IDOT should take over the Illinois tollway system. The citizens of Illinois do not own the tollways, the bond holders of the debt are the true owners of the tollways. The tolls, in part, pay down this debt. IDOT would have to pay the bond holders before any transfer could occur.

Thanks to Illinois's former governor, there is no money in the IDOT account for any road repair let alone purchasing the tollways. The former governor declared that any surplus money from all funding agencies goes into the general fund.

The motor fuel fund had a surplus but because road and bridge projects take years to develop, the surplus money for IDOT disappeared into the general fund.

This is why Gov. Quinn is mentioning raising motor fuel taxes, vehicle transfer taxes and increasing license plate and driver's license fees.

So who is to pay the bond holders of the Illinois Tollway Authority so they become freeways? Should part of any motor fuel tax be used to retire the debt of the tollway? The tollway does not enter Chicago but let's ask Mayor Daley if the city of Chicago is agreeable to sharing the motor fuel tax with the tollway.

What about Clinton, Charleston, Cairo and East St. Louis, should these cities also reduce their motor fuel income to help the Chicago suburbs pay for the tollways?

No one likes to pay tolls; but as a user-based highway interchange, only the users, not the general public, is obligated to pay the bond holders. The Boulder Turnpike in Colorado is the only tollway in the United States that has become a freeway. Illinois will have its tollway system for a long time.

Jack McCabe

Batavia

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