Patrick opposes Pike toll removal

Governor-elect Deval Patrick said yesterday he opposes removal of tolls from the western portion of the Massachusetts Turnpike, throwing into doubt the efforts by the Turnpike Authority's board to make most of the highway free.

Patrick's opposition, as well as an order yesterday from the state environmental secretary not to enact the toll removal plan before he determines if the proposal requires an environmental review, could ultimately kill the plan.

After a morning meeting with economic advisers, Patrick called the move to eliminate tolls an "impractical idea" for which he has "deep, deep skepticism."

Shortly after Patrick announced his opposition, the Turnpike Authority's board voted to take another step forward in enacting the plan. Final approval, the board said, could come early next year after a thorough review, including winning federal approval.

Nevertheless, Patrick could still stop the plan, said a board member who asked not to be identified.

As governor, Patrick could deny state funding to refurbish toll plazas or change state law to add his own members to the board to dilute the Republican majority, the board member said.

The board's effort to remove the tolls is part of a plan by Governor Mitt Romney to merge the Turnpike Authority with the state Highway Department, in what has been touted as a cost-saving move, and to win favor with residents of Western Massachusetts.

But Patrick's transportation secretary, who has yet to be appointed, would have to accept the turnpike into the state transportation system, because the state, not the tolls, would provide funding for the roadway's maintenance and operation. If the state does not accept the turnpike, the transfer would die, transportation officials said.

Patrick, who previously said he would support removing the tolls if the state could afford it, said yesterday that recent financial briefings have convinced him that the turnpike cannot be maintained properly without the $114 million in revenue generated by tolls from Route 128 west to Springfield. Tolls from Springfield to the New York border were removed in 1996.

"I have looked very carefully at the numbers, and I have deep, deep skepticism about whether . . . we can afford to maintain and to improve those roads without that revenue stream for the time being," Patrick said at the end of a meeting of his economic working group, one of 15 panels advising him in the transition.

"That's difficult news for a lot of people, but that is the practical reality," Patrick added. He said he would be shocked if the five-member board voted to remove the tolls before he came to office.

"If they try to accomplish that, then they owe me, to say nothing of the public, a good explanation for how it is we're supposed to forgo $114 million, I think it is, in revenue that now is used to maintain that very good road," he said.

Meanwhile, state Environmental Secretary Robert W. Golledge Jr. issued a letter yesterday saying the board should not "take any decisive step that sets the proposed toll removal project in motion" until he determines if it needs to undergo a lengthy environmental review.

Despite Patrick's comments and Golledge's warning, Turnpike Authority chairman John Cogliano said he continues to support eliminating tolls west of Route 128, which he said would save money by consolidating the turnpike with the Highway Department. Such a move would result in smaller staffs by eliminating duplication of services, he has said.

"We would work cooperatively with the incoming administration," Cogliano said. "I think there is a great opportunity with the western turnpike to fulfill the broken promises that were established when the bonds were first floated. We need to look at this as an opportunity for cost efficiency."

The tolls were supposed to be eliminated when the bonds floated to build the highway were paid off, but new bonds were issued to help pay for upgrades to the highway and to pay for the escalating costs of the Big Dig.

Before the meeting, board member Mary Z. Connaughton defended the toll removal plan hours after Patrick expressed his concerns. "I think we need to talk with the governor-elect and tell him about the gross inequity that's out there," she said. "I hope Deval Patrick sees this as a partnership opportunity."

At its meeting yesterday, the board laid out the steps that must be taken to remove the tolls, including holding public hearings, winning federal approval for the transfer, and finding money to remove the toll plazas and reconstruct on- and offramps.

The turnpike board also approved a two-month extension of the Fast Lane discount yesterday, a move the board said would allow them to review the costs of the discount in light of other budget concerns.

The cost of continuing the Fast Lane discounts, estimated at $12.2 million annually, is increasingly viewed as a luxury when the authority faces a number of financial unknowns, including the final cost of repairing the Sumner and Callahan tunnels and the annual cost of maintaining Interstate 93, which the authority has budgeted at $25 million but could go as high as $80 million, according to a board member. The authority would not make public its 2007 operating budget or give the size of its operating deficit.

The one-time cost of repairing the collapsed ceiling in the I-90 connector will be at least $34 million, officials said yesterday.

Patrick offered qualified support for the Fast Lane discount program, which takes 25 cents off the $1 toll on the turnpike extension in Boston, and 50 cents off the $3 toll at the Boston Harbor tunnels.

"If the discount can be sustained, I think it ought to be sustained," Patrick said.

Mac Daniel can be reached at mdaniel@globe.com.