Possible Toll Hikes On Garden State Parkway, NJ Turnpike Coming

NEW JERSEY – Authorities plan to possibly hike tolls soon on New Jersey's two major highways, with officials saying on Tuesday that they're looking to bring in revenues to support major projects.

The New Jersey Turnpike Authority made the possible toll hike plan public on Tuesday, saying it was authorizing public hearings on "revenue enhancement" for the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway.

The NJTA's board voted to authorize three public hearings on March 18 and 19 “to determine an appropriate capital plan and explore funding to support those capital projects,” Tom Feeney, a spokesman for the agency, told Patch.

Tolls are the major source of revenue for the Turnpike and Parkway, and NJ Advance Media and News12 said the proposed toll hike would be the first since 2012, when a 53 percent increase was approved.

It's not exactly clear where the increases would occur, and what they would pay for. NJ Advance Media reported that $400 million is currently available over the next five years "to tackle important projects that enhance roadway safety, relieve congestion and improve access onto and off the Turnpike and Parkway.”

"There is no specific proposal for the capital plan or the funding at this point. The Turnpike Authority staff is working on those," Feeney said. "They will be fully explained and explored in public, but there have been no final decisions made about what’s going to be in the proposal, so I have no specifics to share."

Under the 2012 increases, toll rates on the Garden State Parkway increased from $0.35 to $0.50 for ramp tolls, from $0.50 to $0.75 for two-way toll plazas, and from $1 to $1.50 for one-way toll plazas. It is the third hike in tolls for the Parkway since its opening in 1954, and the seventh for the New Jersey Turnpike since that highway's inception in 1951.

The increases were voted on and approved as the second phase of a two-fold toll hike in October 2008, during the administration of former Gov. Jon Corzine.

Feeney said then that the toll prices were originally raised to support a decade-long construction projects package totaling $7 billion, including a widening of the Turnpike and the Parkway south of Toms River. The package also included the agency's $1 billion-plus contribution toward a new rail tunnel to cross the Hudson River.

However, former Gov. Chris Christie killed the rail tunnel project in 2010, claiming that the construction was certain to go over budget, and then redirected the over $1 billion dollars in revenues to other state transportation projects.

Gubernatorial Candidate Jack Ciattarelli ripped the new plan to increase tolls by an untold amount on the Garden State Parkway and the New Jersey Turnpike, claiming it was quietly unveiled at a Turnpike Commission meeting while much of the focus was on Gov. Phil Murphy giving his budget address.

“This smacks of backroom deal-making. It will end when I am governor.” said Ciattarelli. “If Governor Murphy wants to raise tolls on the most over-taxed people in the nation, then he should make the case in an open, honest, and transparent way."