Letter: Toll roads not the best way to go in Nevada

Thursday, April 5, 2007 | 7:12 a.m.

Concerning the article in the April 3 edition of the Las Vegas Sun, headlined "Raising tolls":

Look out! Dick Gephardt wants toll roads in Nevada to generate profits for a company he represents.

Those of us who moved here from the East Coast know toll roads and we don't want them. It is utter madness to stop every 10 to 15 minutes to wait on line to pay a toll. There are drive-through systems that permit frequent users to go through without stopping , but that does not eliminate the need for toll booths.

Another problem is that many accidents occur around toll booths as people get rear-ended stopping to pay. They slow traffic and increase pollution and gas consumption.

Gephardt wants to sell the toll rights to a contractor that would then collect the tolls. Bad idea. It makes an easy out for the government, but Nevada motorists will have to eventually foot the bill for the required infrastructure, the toll booths and buildings to support them. We will have to cover the salaries of the toll workers and of course pay enough to make sure the company makes a profit. We end up paying twice as much as the government receives for road maintenance.

Doesn't it make more sense to generate the required road maintenance funds through a combination of gas taxes, vehicle registration fees and annual charges for trucks that pass through our highways? At least that way virtually 100 percent of what the motorists pay goes toward the intended purpose.

Bill Scott, Henderson