City Newspaper Archives - 4/2008
THRUWAY: To hold or to hike
Published by Jeremy Moule on Apr 02, 2008
That was the bureaucratic lingo employed by Thruway Authority administrators Tuesday night during a hearing at Monroe Community College in Brighton. They were gathering public input on proposed Thruway toll increases.
Canal advocates, meanwhile, came out to urge authority officials to restore canal operating hours. Because of an increasingly difficult financial situation, officials want to open the canal for 10 hours a day, instead of the current 15 hours. The new schedule would be 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. That will reduce boat traffic and impact dinner cruises by local tour boat companies, speakers said.
"Cutting a few hours of the operating hours of the canal may not seem like that big of a change, but it is," said Rick Rivers, a volunteer member of the Canal NY advocacy group.
There were speakers for and against toll increases. And in the middle of it all was the state's Canal Corporation. In short, speakers in favor of toll increases said they're necessary for a well-maintained highway and canal system. Opponents wanted to see the authority focus solely on the highway. The canal system is important to New York, but doesn't fit in with the authority's responsibilities, they said.
"It's time the Thruway Authority is run as a business," said Ken Johnson, president of the Farmington-based Leonard's Transportation.
