Patrick mentions interest in border tolls

His office says it's not on his agenda

Governor Deval Patrick raised the specter of tolling more highways yesterday. Sort of.

On a morning radio show he said "there's some interest in looking at border tolls coming in from New Hampshire and from Rhode Island."

Later, his communications director said that interest was not coming from inside the governor's office. "That is not part of our current agenda, nor has it ever been part of our agenda," said Joe Landolfi, who added that Patrick was referring to suggestions made by others.

Patrick made his comments on Tom Finneran's radio show on WRKO while discussing a plan his administration is working on to eliminate the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority. Details are expected at the end of the year.

"What I'd like to come out of this restructure is the elimination of many of the tolls on the turnpike, not all," Patrick said. "Border tolls, for example, might be kept at the New York line and coming in from Connecticut."

He followed those comments with the ones about tolling the other borders. At that point, Finneran, a former House speaker, interrupted him, joking that commuters from the north would "love" to hear that news.

"It's complicated," Patrick replied. "The thing is, you can't do anything that doesn't make somebody mad. But we're trying to figure out how to be equitable, not gimmicky, and deliver a long-term fix. And it ain't simple."

North-south tolls on Interstate 93 have been widely discussed, and roundly dismissed, by the Patrick administration over the past year. To toll Rhode Island commuters, Interstate 95 would have to be added to the mix. The idea is most popular with residents and politicians who live along the Massachusetts Turnpike and feel they are paying more than their fair share of Big Dig construction costs.

Senator Steven A. Baddour, the Methuen Democrat who leads the Transportation Committee and whose district borders New Hampshire, repeated his opposition.

"People say, 'Everything should be on the table.' I don't have a problem with that," he said.

"But we also shouldn't be afraid to take things off the table that don't make sense."

Noah Bierman can be reached at nbierman@globe.com.