Harbour Bridge toll hike creates traffic jams, angry drivers

Cars are creeping along bumper to bumper across Saint John's free Reversing Falls Bridge, protesting arecent toll hike on the city's only other span.

Last week, tolls doubled on the Saint John Harbour Bridge, rising from 25 cents a crossing to 50 cents. It's the first time tolls have gone up in the 38 years since the bridge opened, and many commuters are angry about the change.

At theHarbour Bridge, carsjam up in the lanes all day as people pay the old 25-centtoll and tryto drive off with the gate still down. Some people even drive under the gate, refusing to pay the proper amount.

Terry Levine works in a bridge booth, spending his days dealing with drivers who haven't clued in yet that the toll has gone up. "The morning people pretty much know now," he said. "It's the afternoon people who don't know."

And then there's the other group of commuters, thousands of staunch west-side residents who have vowed to stay clear of the Harbour Bridge since the toll shot up, instead jamming up the city's free bridge at the Reversing Falls during rush hour every morning and every night.

Every late afternoon like clockwork, cars avoiding the toll line up on Chesley Drive for more than a kilometre, as drivers wait their turn to take a free trip across the St. JohnRiver.

Never mind that the cars likely burn up enough gas in the lineup to finance the extra cost, many residents of the working-class west side neighbourhood are adamant they're off the Harbour Bridge for good.

But Harbour Bridge general manager Ken Anthony hopes frustration with those rush-hour traffic jams will soon grow larger than anger at the new toll and everything will be back to normal.

"That's why[the bridge] was built, because congestion was so bad there. The bridge is two lanes over there.It's not built to handle that kind of traffic and that's why we had to build a new one," Anthony said."So I'm hoping people will realize this is the best way to go."

People got used to $1-a-litre gas and in Saint John they'll probably get used to higher bridge tolls, too, but for now, many drivers are saying they don't like the increase andare proving it every night when they sit in traffic.