New Yorkers push back on CT governor’s plan for I-684 tolls

Shelley B. Mayer

Originally published in Westfair Communications

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont’s plan to impose tolls on motorists using I-684 where the highway through Westchester crosses a sliver of Greenwich, Connecticut, hit a few potholes within days of being announced.

Officials called the plan “a money grab” and “an unacceptable burden” and vowed to push back, while some on an I-684 Facebook page used even more colorful language.  
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“I don’t believe any of us in elective office who serve that community were given advance notice. I certainly wasn’t,” she told the Business Journal. “I’m not in a conciliatory mood. My view is that it is an unacceptable tax on New York residents. It really is unacceptable. That’s what the tone of my letter is. He really should withdraw this part of the proposal.”

Mayer said she will be reaching out to other elected officials in Albany and also to the New York State Department of Transportation to push back on Lamont’s plan.

“I want to make sure we can pool our resources,” Mayer said.

She explained that she uses I-684 regularly when visiting various parts of her district and considers it a vital link.

“I spent 18 months since I got elected originally fighting for I-684 in the Bedford area to finally be repaved after 17 years,” she said.

She added that she worked with Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s office and others to get the repaving money allocated.

“They’re working on the road,” she said. “I’m very familiar with the challenges of I-684 and this is just a very unacceptable way to make a change and impose a toll.”