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If you were living in Connecticut in January 1983; You'll never forget the fiery crash that killed six people, including a 5 month old baby in Stratford, Connecticut. It happened when a truck driver fell asleep and slammed into a line of cars waiting in the exact change lane. The accident ,which was not the only one at toll booths in Connecticut, caused such an outcry, that the tolls were removed soon after. An old toll booth is on display at Boothe Memorial Park in Stratford.

Connecticut drivers were already long fed-up,with the smog and the smell ,caused by cars waiting to pass through the tolls. If you were like me; you drove off the exit and got back on again to avoid paying the darn thing. Others that didn't know the trick, waited in line to toss their 25 or 35 cents into the basket. We were told back then that we were paying for the construction of the new Connecticut Turnpike. Bringing back the tolls would mean that we would be paying twice for the road.

Then there is the bottle-neck at the junction of I-95 and I-91. It is impossible to get through it on a good day in July. If you get on the highway in West Haven and accelerate to 55, you suddenly find yourself slamming on your brakes to avoid hitting the cars that are waiting to get through at New Haven. Can you imagine having a tollbooth there? In winter there would be chaos as commuters trying to get home would be further delayed by the snow. Tollbooths are just too unsafe, and create more traffic problems than they are worth.

Perhaps implementing an e-z pass system at the state-lines for out of state drivers passing through Connecticut, might be a little more agreeable for us. Since most Connecticut residents only travel about 10 miles a day on the highway, it's the interstate trucking and busing that uses the road the most. We already have a State Income Tax and a proportion of the money goes to maintain the roads. Why should we be burdened with paying tolls?

The money that would be spent to build all the toll booths should be spent on improving public transportation. Adding 24 hour bus service in communities, adding routes, and clean ,safe, well lighted bus stops would do more to save gas and decrease traffic jams,than toll booths. Using the trains and reconnecting old stations to the lines are another source of revenue. If we would focus on what we already have and use it, we would be better off.

Learn more about this author, Diana Claude.
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