Coquihalla Toll is no more

[Ubertuber]

Just heard it on the radio that as of 1:00 this afternoon there will be no more toll on the Coq.
It's about time IMO.

[Huey]

Ya right... r u serious!

[greatwhitehunter]

Wow. I remember driving with Dad and asking when will we not have to pay, he replied "you will be paying when you are driving." That was like 20 years ago.

[Mr. Dean]

:shock: :shock:

:confused:

[Ubertuber]

Ya right... r u serious!Would I lie to you??;)


Tolls coming off the Coquihalla
Penticton/CKNW(AM980)

9/26/2008

A surprise announcement from Premier Gordon Campbell today.

Campbell told delegates at the union of BC municipalities convention tolls on the Coquihalla highway are coming off immediately.

"How many of you are intending to take the Coquihalla going home? How many of you are leaving this afternoon? Well I think you're gonna like this. By 1:00 this afternoon the tolls on the Coquihalla are going for good."

Campbell says tolls have nearly paid for the entire 848 million dollar cost of the Coquihalla, which first opened in 1986.

But Campbell also told delegate’s tolls on the new port Mann Bridge will be in place for 35 years once the crossing is completed.

[1/2 slam]

FANTASTIC...thanks for letting us know. :smile:

[Mr. Dean]

Allmost paid for????

How about 2 or 3 times over..........

[1/2 slam]

Wasn't there an anouncement a few years ago saying that the tolls had paid for it? I seem to remember that. Can anyone help with that? Old age you know.

[The Dawg]

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=3044ae3a-ed05-465b-8305-78290b1b07cb

[lip_ripper00]

with the removal of the toll I have to wonder what else is coming down the pipe, this was a huge cash cow I don't think they will let go with out implementing somthing else, OR we will hear more and more about the new ski hill proposed for the summit area:idea:

[Huey]

The carbon tax must be doing better than expected!

[Ubertuber]

OR we will hear more and more about the new ski hill proposed for the summit areaThat's what I thought. They're setting up the announcement of the summit resort.

[sparkymacker]

The way the Liberal support has been tanking due to their Carbon Tax, they might be getting desparate.

[rishu_pepper]

Suh-weet. More hunting, less spending. We can always dig that. :cool:

[longwalk]

New revenue will be generated as Kevin Falcon has already said all new projects will be tolled..... get ready to pay more. Convenient how when a ski resort is going in that the toll suddenly disappears. I spoke via e-mail with minister Falcon on why the sea to sky is not tolled when it is a billion dollar project and he said it would reduce the value of investments in Whistler held by liberal party heavyweights, well not exactly, but he did feed me a line about it being a transportation corridor. Like the Port Mann is not?

[sawmill]

Jeez you guys,you would think Cambell just handed you a turd and said he`s giving out free OH-HENREY bars.:shock:

[Steeleco]

Jeez you guys,you would think Cambell just handed you a turd and said he`s giving out free OH-HENREY bars.:shock:

NO No no, he keeps giving turds with no promise of a Hersey or anything.
It's good news for those of us that frequent the hwy. But 60 mil a year will need to be replaced somehow?

Not to mention he just laid of how many toll plaza workers? How many of them thought they had a life long job, I did. :eek:

[Wolfman]

Ha! I knew it! There is NO WAY they would be taking the toll off the Coq, unless they could figure another way to squeeze the money out of us.

By the way, wasn't the original deal that the toll was to be removed from the Coquihalla after 20 years? I guess better late than never.

Wolfman








Would I lie to you??;)


Tolls coming off the Coquihalla
Penticton/CKNW(AM980)

9/26/2008

A surprise announcement from Premier Gordon Campbell today.

Campbell told delegates at the union of BC municipalities convention tolls on the Coquihalla highway are coming off immediately.

"How many of you are intending to take the Coquihalla going home? How many of you are leaving this afternoon? Well I think you're gonna like this. By 1:00 this afternoon the tolls on the Coquihalla are going for good."

Campbell says tolls have nearly paid for the entire 848 million dollar cost of the Coquihalla, which first opened in 1986.

But Campbell also told delegate’s tolls on the new port Mann Bridge will be in place for 35 years once the crossing is completed.

[Bushman]

Now for the bad news:
According to BCTV News we should get ready to pay tolls for 35 years on an expanded Port Mann Bridge project.
Sure glad I don't live down in the Lower Mainland any more.

[fozzy]

Last time I drove the Coq it was in rough shape, they sure weren't spending the revenue on upkeep that's for sure.

[Charlie]

I wonder what this will do to the traffic on the coq. I was certain there were a number of people who avoided it solely because of the tolls.

I suppose what they lose in tolls they can make up for in speeding tickets with the increased volume :-P

[FLHTCUI]

Last time I drove the Coq it was in rough shape, they sure weren't spending the revenue on upkeep that's for sure.
fozzy, they dont use the revenue for upkeep, they Privatized that job when Mr Fantastic was in power.
But, good point you made.
I'll throw my .02 into the ring and suggest that Bill VanderZams Residential Developement was going to take a huge hit in Merrit because of the Carbon Tax, how about you folks in Merrit, what say you?
Also , I am sure he will make up the loss( yah roight ) on some other tolls that He is planning ... of course those will be announced after the next Provincial Election next fall.
Drive Safe and Shoot Hard.
Rob

[browningboy]

I guess I'll save 40 or so dollars a year! Whoopdi do, I would rather leave the toll there than the port mann anyday, the revenue from the port mann bridge would be enormous in comparison to to coq, but life goes on and the politians will keep screwing you, one way or another.

[JeffR]

Not to mention he just laid of how many toll plaza workers? How many of them thought they had a life long job, I did. :eek:

On the news it said none of the workers would be laid off, just transfered.

[308BAR]

If it's not tolls on the Coq. then it's on the Port Mann Bridge when they twin and Golden ears bridge and any other New road or infrastructure they put it.

[born2hunt]

election year ,,soon there gonna rape us some where else i can feel it commin lol

[Jagermeister]

And my hope was for a toll on the sea to sky highway so that over the next 22 years the users of that road could pay it off like the Coq users had to. Once again, Whistler gets the golden fleece and the rest of us get the shaft.:mad:

[3kills]

On the news it said none of the workers would be laid off, just transfered.


and thats a crock of u know what...my step mom worked up there and she is now laid off...where are they going to transfer them too??? 45 people out of work just for some votes..and the real kick in the pants non of the workers new it was comin...from what ihave been told was Harper said he would get rid of the carbon tax..so cambell shut down the toll booth...

[Gateholio]

And my hope was for a toll on the sea to sky highway so that over the next 22 years the users of that road could pay it off like the Coq users had to. Once again, Whistler gets the golden fleece and the rest of us get the shaft.:mad:


Yes, I agrree, toll the sea to sky!! GREAT idea!!

[tuom]

I heard it here first. Almost live on HBC. Keeping hunters up to date on news weather and sports. :razz:

[huntwriter]

Other than an election propaganda stunt from the liberal Campell I do not see any news worthiness in this announcement. It was agreed many years ago that the toll on the Cquihalla should done away with.

With the new frivolous carbon tax, the upcoming Portman and Golden Ears Bridge tolls Campell has already thought of new ways to get at our money. I also still remember vividly that he said in a speech not so very long ago that there are more plans in making of generating money from the road users. One of the options mentioned is a parking fee. These are his words, “In future we will see more user taxes and fees to pay for transportation in British Columbia.”

What angers me most about all these special money grabs is the fact that none of it is used for the purpose they’re collected for. Road and bridge tolls are not used to maintain the projects and the carbon tax is not used for “green solutions”.

There are plans in the works to build a huge tourist trap, similar to Wistler, on the Coquihalla. Despite all the valued environmental and wildlife habitat concerns voiced by natives and biologists Campell keeps pushing the project. With the toll gone it will be easier for Campell to make the project palatable to developers.

[wlbc]

I've been driving that highway since it was built and I'm glad to see it come off. Nice to see a committment made 20 odd years ago kept.

As far as the people working there I thought I read that they would offered other employment - not that any job should be ironclad guaranteed for life - this is not the Soviet Bloc.

As far as new toll projects, Canada has been moving toward user pay taxes since the GST. My understanding is that the philosophy behind tolls is that the people that use the public infrastructure (like the Coq) the most end paying the most for it - those who don't end up underwriting the carrying cost of the initial capital through their general tax dollars. Seems fair to me.

Where we can get into what I think is a legitimate debate is with some aspects of the carbon tax. While I have not studied the language of the document in detail one aspect of it is to encourage folks to use public transit more. People in rural and northern communities do not always have other transportation options like the bus or train. This seems like a bit of a disparity to me but I still have to think this through more.

[2slow]

the bad part about this is that the already dead and dying communities along the fraser canyon have just had the final nail driven in their coffin. Alot of people taking the #1 were doing so to avoid the tolls imho

[Ltbullken]

DAMN!!! Now all the Lower Mainland Hunters are going to come up to the Interior like flies to a carcass. The hunting is really bad in the Interior, don't come up here, save your gas! Trust us!! Stay in Region 2!

[.303]

the bad part about this is that the already dead and dying communities along the fraser canyon have just had the final nail driven in their coffin. Alot of people taking the #1 were doing so to avoid the tolls imho

I don't know, it's either $10 for a toll, or $10 extra for gas depending on where you're going....

I use the canyon if the weather on the Coq is going to be nasty. Most of the time, not always....the road conditions can be better.

[Edward Teach]

The canyon is a nicer drive anyway. Other than the nasty weather (which we can do without) the Coquihalla is boring as hell. If I've got the time I'll still take the canyon.

I'm somewhat pleased that they've seen reason and taken the toll off the Coquihalla.
I DON'T like the idea of tolls on the Pt Mann though!
With it, the Golden Ears, and the possible Patullo replacement all being tolled, east of the Alex Fraser the next "free" crossing will be Mission. That's bull$**t!