Politics & Government

Toll Bill Could 'Open a Can of Worms'

The toll debate has once again been opened in Hartford, and legislators are split in their support.

If one state legislator has his way motorists will need to carry some spare change to pay for a toll when driving in upstate Connecticut. But several of his colleagues still aren't so sure that tolls are the answer to funding the state's transportation infrastructure, cautioning that it could "open up a can of worms."

According to the Connecticut Post, state Rep. Ed Jutila, D-Niantic, is hoping to usher through the House a bill that would give officials the option of building a toll to fund the completion of Route 11. The project, which connects Colchester and I-95 in Waterford, has long been stalled, the Post reports.

The bill has already passed the Senate by a 24-14 vote. It is still up in the air whether the House will take up the bill during the current session.

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"The bill could become a can of worms in terms of implications for tolls in other parts of the state," Sen. L. Scott Frantz, R-Greenwich, tells the Post.

Tolls, which were decommissioned in 1983 following a fatal accident in Stratford, are but one measure state officials have talked about as a possible solution to funding and addressing Connecticut's traffic woes. The as one option.

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