Tolls
The Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge is a toll bridge, and the cash toll is US$4.00 for cars (as of 2009). E-ZPass is accepted, and Rhode Island residents with a Rhode Island E-ZPass pay a discounted toll of only 83 cents. Early in 2012, the Authority had voted to raise tolls for passenger vehicles to $5. However on June 15, 2012 this plan was abolished as Rhode Island lawmakers approved tolls to be added to the newly built Sakonnet River Bridge in the future. The bridge also charges a fee equal to the toll for improperly mounted Ez-Pass transponders that require a toll-booth operator to manually raise the gate. Out-of-state residents pay full price, even with a Rhode Island E-ZPass, making this bridge the only toll facility in the U.S. to give a residence discount that isn't limited to the adjacent neighborhoods. The bridge is the only toll road in Rhode Island.
In the spring of 2012, the Bridge Authority brought Open Road Tolling to the Pell bridge, allowing drivers with E-ZPass to pass through a special E-ZPass only toll lane at 40 mph. Violators are subject to a $10 fine, on top of the unpaid toll. The new lanes opened to traffic on June 22, in time for the America's Cup sailing race being held in Newport. The bridge's top layer of concrete was also resurfaced during the spring, resulting in a much smoother drive.
Read more about this topic: Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge
Famous quotes containing the word tolls:
“No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main.... Any man’s death diminishes me because I am involved in Mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”
—John Donne (c. 1572–1631)
“No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main.... Any man’s death diminishes me because I am involved in Mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”
—John Donne (c. 1572–1631)