Will Connecticut Ring in New Year With Tolls?

After the bell tolls at midnight ringing in the New Year, the New Year could bring another kind of toll back to Connecticut.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said he hasn't ruled out highway tolls for Connecticut as a means to pay for transportation improvements.

"Tolls are a way of paying for it," Malloy said. "Do the people of Connecticut want to have a world class transportation system?"

For many, the answer to that question is no if the money has to come out of their own wallets.

"It's costly enough to be on the roads," Sean Gearhart, of West Hartford, said. "We have insurance. We have all kinds of bills."

Tolls were eliminated from Connecticut in the early 1980s after a deadly accident, but they could be making a comeback.

"So as a child I remember going through them," said Gina Carey, of Ridgefield, who did not describe the tolls that once lined Connecticut as a fond memory and has a daily commute from Ridgefield to Newington. "They were really a traffic issue. Safety was always an issue."

The governor says the state under-invested in transportation for the last two generations and that's why tolls are on the table. Regardless, Malloy said the New Year has to bring a new focus to finding some sort of solution.

Contact Us