Sunday wasn't a good day for Dan Howell of West Deer.
Howell already was displeased that he had to exchange a Christmas gift he'd purchased only to learn it didn't work.
Upon arriving at the Allegheny Valley interchange in Harmar, Howell learned he'd pay an extra 20 cents each way to travel the turnpike one exit to Monroeville.
Shortly after merging onto the turnpike, Howell realized his gas tank was almost empty.
"It's not my day," he said as he filled the tank of his Ford truck at the Oakmont Service Plaza. "Turns out the toll is higher and I needed gas, so I have to pay higher turnpike gas prices too."
Other travelers driving the turnpike through rain and fog on Sunday probably weren't as unhappy as Howell, but few were pleased when they learned tolls had increased about 25 percent.
Angela and Marc Bradford of West Chester figured they'd pay about $7 more on their way home Sunday than they paid a week ago when they drove to Cleveland to visit family. That includes the $3.75 flat fee charged at the Gateway Service Plaza at the Ohio border; westbound traffic does not pay the fee.
The Bradfords said they hadn't noticed the signs at the toll booths warning travelers of higher fares.
"We thought that maybe it cost more for a different direction," Angela Bradford said. "But we weren't sure why it would cost more to go east than west."
The Bradfords owed $19.70 for the trek from the Ohio line to the Harrisburg exit, including the Gateway fee. They thought they paid about $12 for the same distance last week.
Angela Bradford at least put a positive spin on the toll increase: "It still probably cost less overall than it did when we drove to Cleveland this summer, since gas prices are lower now."
"Everything is going up, so it's no surprise tolls are too," said Bob Fischer of Youngstown, Ohio, who was traveling to New Jersey with his wife, Anette.
The Fischers ride the turnpike its entire distance from Gateway to the Delaware River Bridge exit near Philadelphia. The new cost is $28.45, including the Gateway toll.
At the other end of the spectrum was Jim Breen of Gibsonia, who traveled only a few exits from Butler Valley to Irwin. He was on his way to dinner at his parents' home.
"I'm only on it for a few exits, so it's not too bad," Breen said, whose cost was $2.20 one way.
"I guess they have to pay for that new bridge," he said, indicating the new Allegheny River bridge and associated realignment project between Harmar and Oakmont.
However, once Breen was informed the extra revenue would not benefit the turnpike but other state roads, he began to reconsider.
"Well, that doesn't seem quite fair, does it," he wondered. "Probably most of the people on here are from out of state. If their toll money isn't going to benefit the road they're on, why should they pay?"
The toll increase is intended to help close a $450 million gap left when the Federal Highway Administration nixed a proposal to charge tolls on I-80 as part of the state's Act 44 transportation plan.
More than 90 percent of the new proceeds will go toward other road, bridge, and transit projects around the state, turnpike CEO Joe Brimmeier said.
The only areas where tolls did not rise were through the turnpike's newest sections: the Mon-Fayette Expressway and the Findlay Connector. Tolls in those areas were set with the impending increase in mind.
Starting January 2010, the turnpike commission plans to increase tolls about 3 percent annually to keep up with costs.
"Compared to levying a large increase every dozen years or so, regularly scheduled increases allow travelers to better anticipate rate changes," Brimmeier said, noting the turnpike's E-ZPass system makes implementation of rate changes easier.
Additional Information:
Turnpike tolls
Here's a look at what tolls will cost for drivers accessing the Pennsylvania Turnpike at the Allegheny Valley interchange in Harmar:
⢠Warrendale: $1.90.
⢠Butler Valley: $0.95.
⢠Pittsburgh (Monroeville): $0.95.
⢠New Stanton: $2.20.
⢠Breezewood: $8.75.
⢠Delaware River Bridge: $23.15.
