A few weeks ago I wrote “I-80 from Iowa to Indiana should be a Toll Road.” Since then I have found out how Governor Gina Marie Raimondo of Rhode Island solved her state’s funding for roads and bridges. She put a toll on her roads affecting only trucks. This gets around the family cars getting on and off. I think of Rhode Island as Will County. I have talked with others from Grundy and LaSalle and their plan is to stay on local and two-lanes to avoid the toll.

I would not only put a truck toll on I-80, I would add, I-55, I-57, I-64, I-72, I-39, I-70, and I-94. This would bring in tens of millions each year without affecting the residents in the area. The short haul trucks that don’t leave the state would have to be billed another way. Those that skirt the tollways would be ticketed heavily.

A thousand dollar registration for electrics is stupid! It should be the same as gasoline vehicles plus the average gasoline tax. In a decade a huge percentage of vehicles sold will be electric. This includes six, ten and eighteen wheel trucks.

We should add at least a quarter per gallon to the state tax so the rest of us will contribute. This toll and tax proposal has the vehicles doing the most damage to our highways paying the most. How tolls would be structured and where toll exits would be located is beyond information available to me. Tell your legislator this plan has your approval.