Toll Controversy
On November 28, 2007 the Florida Department of Transportation held a public hearing and revealed that they planned to more than double the cash and Sunpass tolls on the Pinellas Bayway, and to eliminate the $15 Bayway resident pass. The funds from these increased tolls would be used to issue bonds for the eventual improvement of the bridges of the Bayway System.
There has been much controversy over these toll increases. Local public officials (including Mayor Rick Baker of St. Petersburg) have come out loudly against what some perceive as an unfair allocation of costs to Pinellas Bayway residents. In February, 2008 an ad-hoc coalition of affected Homeowner Associations, the "Citizens's Bayway Task Force' organized to fight the toll increase. The legislation to increase the tolls on the Pinellas Bayway was withdrawn on March 19, 2008.
Read more about this topic: Pinellas Bayway
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