E-ZPass Delayed On 5 Spans Down The Shore, Along With Possible Toll Increase
(CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE, NJ) -- Five toll bridges that connect barrier islands along the South Jersey shore are due to get the E-ZPass system, but not as quickly as they had planned.
And as a result, talk of a toll increase on those spans is being put off.
Those plans had E-ZPass on the bridges along Ocean Drive up and running by June First. That won't happen, according to Cape May County Bridge Commission Chairman and North Wildwood Mayor Patrick Rosenello.
"All 5 of these bridges are subject to direct Atlantic Ocean environment," Rosenello told KYW Newsradio. "And as a result of that, the installation is a little bit different, a little bit more complicated than when E-ZPass has been installed in other places in the region."
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So that installation will be phased in, with hopes to complete the process by August. A hearing was set in late April on a possible hike in the current $1.50 toll charged in one direction on each bridge.
"Once the E-ZPass is installed and we've been able to gather some data as far as the usage of the E-ZPass, I do anticipate that at some time in the future, the discussion of a toll increase will come back up," Rosenello added.
A hearing on the plan, scheduled for the end of the month, is now not expected until at least late fall.