State lawmakers drop plans for toll hikes on Pinellas Bayway

By Nick Johnson and David Decamp, Times Staff Writers
In print: Thursday, March 20, 2008

Deluged by complaints, two state lawmakers said Wednesday that they were dropping plans for hefty toll hikes on the route to St. Pete Beach and Pinellas County's famed Fort De Soto Park.

"This year? It's deader than a doornail — I mean it is flat, Black Flag dead," said state Sen. Dennis Jones, R-Seminole, who sponsored bills with Rep. Jim Frishe, R-Belleair Bluffs.

The change would have raised the cost of going to Fort De Soto Park from 35 cents to $2.50; travel to St. Pete Beach would have jumped from 50 cents to $1.25.

The decision appears to stall any replacement for the Bayway's two aging drawbridges. The House and Senate bills were part of a grand plan to finance the bridges' $180-million replacement.

But both lawmakers and local leaders made clear that tolls will continue to be part of any renovation plan.

"There may be people celebrating this action, but it's clearly just the first step," warned Bob Stewart, chairman of the Pinellas County Commission. "The next step is going to be the difficult one, and that's finding alternative funding sources & I think the tolls have got to be there."

Jones and Frishe have been inundated with concerns from local government officials and neighborhood groups, culminating last week in a public meeting where more than 400 residents showed up in protest.

"It was clear that the residents didn't want this to happen, and I think the legislators are listening to their constituents and they should be commended for that," said Travis Jarman, co-chair of the Citizen's Bayway Task Force.

Last month, as the Legislature prepared for its session, Jarman and other residents who live within the communities that can only be reached by the toll road began to organize.

The Citizen's Bayway Task Force eventually included about a dozen neighborhood associations and drew the support of the Council of Neighborhood Associations, a group representing more than 100 neighborhoods throughout southern Pinellas County.

He said from the beginning that he and Jones want the state to commit to repaying $18.8-million it took in Bayway tolls to expand Blind Pass Road in the mid 1990s. With interest, Jones said, that would add $25-million to the $37-million sitting in a Bayway tolls account. But without an agreement about replacing that money, the lawmakers said the toll hike bills were unnecessary.

"Both Dennis and I told (the state Department of Transportation) & 'Don't even go out there and propose' " a plan that would only use higher tolls to fund the replacement, Frishe said.

"We're committed to helping," Florida Transportation Secretary Stephanie Kopelousos said Wednesday.

How the department would help, however, was unclear, as DOT District 7 Secretary Don Skelton could not be reached Wednesday.

Skelton previously said that if the bills failed, the Transportation Department would have to rely on the $37-million in the Bayway account, enough to cover repairs to the existing bridges but not enough to replace them.

A key state senator overseeing transportation spending warned that people elsewhere in Florida shouldn't have to bear the cost for new bridges.

"The residents have to understand they're going to have to pay for the bridges, maybe not in total but in some way," said state Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey.

Nick Johnson can be reached at
(727) 893-8361 or nickjohnson@sptimes.com. David DeCamp can be reached at ddecamp@sptimes.com or (850) 224-7263.

Comments on this article

by ra	Mar 21, 2008 8:20 PM
COUNTY PARK, STATE PARK WHAT'S THE DIFFERNANCE! IT'S STILL PAID FOR BY TOLLS AND TAXES YOU IDIOT!

by phil	Mar 21, 2008 5:57 PM
yes - let's just have everyone here just pay for the bridges. we live here right? i'm ok with that as long as those suggesting that give back the disproportionate amount we pay in taxes for everyone else's roads, schools and coun

by Ann	Mar 21, 2008 5:40 PM
1st, Rep. Frishe did NOT say he wanted higher tolls. 2nd, Louisiana ignored paying for their levees and look at the destruction after Katrina. 35 cents is far too low. Never underestimate the negative results of stupid people acting as a group.

by Matt G	Mar 21, 2008 10:07 AM
It's not a state park, it's county park, and you can launch for FREE at Bay Vista Park right on Tampa Bay. Another misinformed person. Where do they get their info!!!!!!

by Matt G	Mar 21, 2008 10:07 AM
The bigger question is why is there a toll in the first place. The bond was paid years ago. Again the FDOT.

by MB	Mar 21, 2008 10:06 AM
Geez people, it's only a 700% increase, what are you complaining about :)

by Jean	Mar 21, 2008 10:06 AM
Raise tolls for tourists but find a way to let tolls for locals who live and work here remain the same. Wages in FL are abominably low and cost of living high. This would just be the last straw for many.

by ra	Mar 20, 2008 5:55 PM
So I would have to pay $1.25 to get on the Bayway then $2.50 to get to Ft Desoto then $5.oo (if that doesn't go up too)to launch my 18ft boat! Keep it up and only the well offs will have acess to A STATE PARK!

by Evelyn	Mar 20, 2008 3:34 PM
Why doesn't FL pay for ALL of their roads & maintance instead of some persons paying more for road use. (Tolls) Perhaps time for a State Tax as most all states have, then roadways no charge in tolls.

by Steve	Mar 20, 2008 1:55 PM
Those "rich people on the beach" are already paying for Pinellas infrastructure with higher taxes. Maybe they should divert monies from other parts of the county to help themselves. They are citizens and should be treated like all of us.

by Matt G	Mar 20, 2008 1:53 PM
It is amazing reading through the comments how many in the facts are missing. Such that 64 million dollars of the Bayway Trust fund was used on Blind Pass Road (no toll on that road) in St Pete Beach or that Skyway money was used, (to

by Matt G	Mar 20, 2008 1:51 PM
skyway money used to improve SR 64 in Bradenton (another no toll). The Real Crook here is the FDOT. Also the Sunpass is for purchase for ANYONE, not just Bayway and Beach residents.

by Wally	Mar 20, 2008 1:50 PM
The FDOT has been raiding the tolls that's been collected for years, and using those funds for non-Bayway projects.... that's why residents are upset...

by SAT	Mar 20, 2008 12:58 PM
ROBERT shows why FL is in such dire straits. Someone who crosses twice a day obviously causes more wear than a tourist, but why not have someone else pay for his damage? He's a resident! He shouldn't have to pay a darn thing! Life is go

by Ellie	Mar 20, 2008 12:56 PM
Yes raise it a little at a time, don't wait till it collapses or gets really stuck.

by H man	Mar 20, 2008 12:50 PM
Ray hits it on the head.

by Kay	Mar 20, 2008 12:50 PM
The Bayway toll should have been minor. The cost to go to Ft Desoto is very low and I think most people could accept even a hefty hike there. 35cents (free parking) for entrance is CHEAP. It's worth more imho.

by kitty	Mar 20, 2008 12:50 PM
It only seems fair that those who use the bridges be made to pay maintenance/construction expenses. If you can afford a $500k+ home/condo, surely you should be able pony up the $$$ to keep the the bridges that lead to said home/condo safe.

by FRED	Mar 20, 2008 12:49 PM
Er, if you read the next sentance, it appears Mike Fasano was the "key state senator". But, that's just a guess,DUH!

by Dr_Dug	Mar 20, 2008 12:49 PM
What a joke..... "I think the legislators are listening to their constituents and they should be commended for that.." THATS THEIR JOB...TO LISTEN AND DO AS THE VOTERS DEMAND. It's Sad when we have to praise the Government for doing i

by Babalu	Mar 20, 2008 12:47 PM
35 cents to get into Ft DeSoto Park is ridiculously low. Why even bother charging admission if that's all they're going to get? $2.50 per carload does not seem unreasonable to me. The users of the park should be the ones to pay for it�

by kitty	Mar 20, 2008 12:43 PM
Robert, YOU use the bridge far more than NONRESIDENTS! Why should WE be stuck paying for maintenance of YOUR route. If you can afford to live at the beach, you can afford to pay the tolls.

by Steve	Mar 20, 2008 12:43 PM
According to Sen. Fasano, residents of the Bayway shouldn't be paying for any improvements anywhere else in the state. In fact, no one should be paying except for anything that directly benefits them. I'm not sure this is good government.

by Me	Mar 20, 2008 12:42 PM
Drew... it's Fasano, in the following quote. He says the residents should have to pay. And they should. Charge them more than that $15 year-pass they get. Make it $50, $100. Make it closer to the amount they would pay on the tolls over a ye

by Chris	Mar 20, 2008 12:42 PM
So just tell the ultra-rich residents of Tierra Verde that there will be a local improvement assessment on their properties to repair the bridges because they are the ones who use them most often. That'll get 'em squealing!

by Bob G	Mar 20, 2008 12:38 PM
well why dont they just increse the toll for ft desoto to $3 that would give them some wiggle room no what ealse to raise you cant park any where for less then $4 AT MOST OTHER BEACHES

by ROBERT	Mar 20, 2008 12:36 PM
As a resident of St. Pete Beach, I drive through the tolls at least twice a day every day. Where has all that money gone? And why can't we figure out a way to raise the tolls for non-residents while leaving it lower for residents?

by Rick Tally	Mar 20, 2008 12:36 PM
There are many more important priorities that the FDOT has to focus on that will benefit many more people than the few privileged who get to enjoy living on the beach. If they don't want to pay more in tolls to replace a crumbling bridge, so be

by drew	Mar 20, 2008 9:32 AM
A key state senator overseeing transportation spending warned that people elsewhere in Florida shouldn't have to bear the cost for new bridges does he or she have a name?

by SD	Mar 20, 2008 9:32 AM
Hold it! Me thinks I smell a rat. When all the toll roads were instituted in orlando region, it was stated that once the roads were paid for, the tolls would be eliminated. Not so - there is enough toll money state wide to pay for new bridges. D

by Carl	Mar 20, 2008 9:31 AM
Sen. Dennis Jones, R-Seminole, and Rep. Jim Frishe, R-Belleair Bluffs might want to start looking for other employment. I suspect that their political careers will not survive this attack on angry tax paying voters.

by Peter	Mar 20, 2008 9:31 AM
A modest increase for each toll would have been better recieved. $1.00 for the bayway and $.75 for the Park would have been a lot easier to justify than the proposed increase.

by Ray	Mar 20, 2008 9:31 AM
Republicans surely won't make those Rich Folks living at the beaches to pay for their fair share of the tolls to fix their bridges. Make the Working Class pay more of their gas taxes for them.

by Pete	Mar 20, 2008 9:31 AM
Raise the toll a little bit at a time. Go from .50 to .75 and .35 to .50 Then six months later do another .25 jump so over time it slowly goes up and no one complains. For the skway go from 1.00 to 2.00