Nobody should be surprised that some west-side cities don’t like the idea of tolling on the Mountain View Corridor. Some are suggesting that it is unfair. I think tolling generally is not a bad idea but I think I would agree that tolling on MVC while leaving I-15 free would be unfair to the growing west-side.
A state study found the tolls would pay for about $1.1 billion of Mountain View’s $1.8 billion price tag. But council members worry about long-term costs.
They fear some residents may have to cough up $200 a month to use the road. They also worry about fee-dodging commuters bypassing the highway altogether, clogging up and wearing down other routes.
While the Utah Department of Transportation has not selected a toll road as its preferred funding option – it’s being considered along with sales or gas taxes and car-registration fees – the council members want to kill the idea for good.
It would make more sense to me to toll I-15 if we wanted to toll only one of those roads. It is the more direct route for the majority of commuters and would be likely to generate higher revenue and have fewer people trying to go around the toll road. Personally, I think the best plan would be to add congestion pricing to both roads. That would be fair to both sides of the valley and revenue would be more reflective of actual usage on the roads because the higher usage roads would generate the most revenue for maintenance and future expansion.
Leave a Reply