THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 17, 1996 TAG: 9609170003
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Opinion
SOURCE: By JAMES K. BROOKSHIRE JR.
LENGTH: 74 lines
Editorial writer Kerry Dougherty's ``The $10 tunnel fee is a toll on the sick, families'' (Perspectives, Sept. 7) contains not only several misstatements of fact but also gives a distorted view of the Eastern Shore and its residents; the Northampton-Accomack Memorial Hospital and the Eastern Shore medical profession; and the service the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel renders to Eastern Shore residents and all others traveling the ``Ocean Highway'' corridor.
Ms. Dougherty began her column writing about a person who ``ran the toll lane'' without paying the toll. To set the facts straight, the person never ``ran the toll lane,'' but when he approached the toll lane without sufficient funds, he was directed into the plaza office for assistance. Inside the office, the officer requested information to fill out a form by which the individual promised to mail in the toll at a later date. While the officer was filling out the form, the individual left the office, got in his car and headed north in the southbound lane at a high rate of speed. The Virginia State Police were called and later the Maryland State Police became involved.
The person was clocked by the Maryland State Police in excess of 140 mph and is now being held on a $500,000 bond with one of the charges being possession of a stolen vehicle. It is journalistically unconscionable that an editorial writer for The Virginian-Pilot would support, even philosophically, such unlawful and dangerous behavior.
The Eastern Shore of Virginia is a two-county peninsula separated from the remainder of the state by the 20-mile-wide Chesapeake Bay. It is one of the most-beautiful areas of the state where good, honest Virginia citizens live. It is not a wealthy region, but it is far from being an area consisting primarily of shacks and shanties and people suffering ``the pain of poverty'' and living in ``misery.'' The Eastern Shore also has excellent health-care facilities for a rural area.
Prior to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel being constructed in the early 1960s, ferries provided transportation services between the Eastern Shore and the remainder of Virginia. The ferry crossing took approximately 1 1/2 hours plus the wait just to get on the ferry. The Cape May/Lewes Ferry takes 70 minutes to cross Delaware Bay at a cost of $18 for a car and driver plus $4.50 for each passenger over 13 years old. If the bridge-tunnel had not been built, the cost of a one-way ferry trip today for a family of four would probably be in the range of $35 to $40. It was only through the foresight and courage of the Chesapeake Bay Ferry Commission, later the Bridge-Tunnel Commission, that the bridge-tunnel became a reality. It was built through the sale of $200 million in revenue bonds, and no federal, state or local tax monies were used to finance its construction.
The funds to maintain, operate and pay for the borrowed money come from toll revenues. The district's current parallel-crossing project, also costing approximately $200 million, is being financed by toll revenues and is without the benefit of any tax dollars.
In selling revenue bonds, the Bridge-Tunnel Commission had to enter into various covenants with the investment community to protect the rights of the bondholders. These covenants are quite strict, especially pertaining to free or reduced toll rates. The Bridge-Tunnel Commission is prohibited from providing a reduced or free rate to people strictly for medical purposes. However, several years ago the commission began providing funds in its annual budget that are contributed to the Social Services departments of Accomack and Northampton counties for their use in assisting people in need who must cross the bridge-tunnel for medical services in the Norfolk/Virginia Beach area.
It is the commission's responsibility to provide an efficient transportation facility across the Chesapeake Bay. This the commission has done. It is the commission's responsibility to establish toll rates commensurate with its financial obligations. This the commission has also done. The commission has gone the extra mile through the contribution of $20,000 over the past three years to assist people with the toll for medical purposes. MEMO: James Brookshire Jr. is executive director of the Chesapeake Bay
Bridge and Tunnel District.
KEYWORDS: ANOTHER VIEW by CNB