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GIBA toll rates

DateToll rate

May 1, 1996$3.20

Oct. 1, 1998$3.25

Oct. 1, 1999$3.50

Oct. 1, 2004$4

Source: Gasparilla Island Bridge Authority

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The estimated $40 million in estimated bridge replacement costs will likely push tolls to cross those bridges higher before work is begun in 2013.

A toll increase will be discussed at the Nov. 18 GIBA meeting. But Gasparilla Island Bridge Authority Chairman David Rohrer said speculating on the size of the increase is baseless without project timelines or construction costs.

"There are ways we can mitigate those costs if we are prudent," Rohrer said. "I think we can do the bridges for a lot less debt than the numbers being thrown around. Right now the numbers are being thrown around without the timelines and that's not good."

GIBA is expected to approve issuing a request for proposal to replace the South Bridge at its next meeting.

Today's toll provides about $1 million in annual GIBA revenues and will likely be hiked, said Jim Cooper, executive director of the Gasparilla Island Bridge Authority. The projects could generate as much as $3 million in annual debt service.

The toll to cross the bridge has been $4 since Oct. 1, 2004. And Cooper said there's no connection between the toll rate and the traffic slowdown this year to the island.

"Sanibel has a $6 toll and people still go to Sanibel Island," Cooper said. "There's an absolute possibility tolls might go up. We have to be able to pay to maintain and operate the bridges. I think it's fair. The people who use the bridge pay the tolls."

The increase will not be large if history offers any guidance. GIBA's three toll increases in 12 years raised the rate from $3.20 to $4.

But it could be the largest increase in GIBA history because tolls must fund the most ambitious bridge replacement project schedule ever. GIBA receives no tax dollars and its only revenue source is the toll.

The need for bridge replacements is no surprise. When GIBA purchased the three bridges from Gaspar Inc. in 1998, it inherited a trio of rusting 40-year-old spans and, although maintenance added more than a decade of life to the bridges, Tampa inspectors have indicated the time for replacement is growing near.

"We knew we'd have to replace them," Cooper said. "The only question was how soon?"

Traffic has been pounding the bridges at a record pace the past three years with a high of 904,766 vehicles in 2007 followed by a near-record 904,179 last year.

After 10 months, bridge traffic is on pace to reach 872,140 vehicles this year, which would be the third-highest volume on record. It would also be a 3.5 percent decrease of 32,039 vehicles from 2008 and make 2009 the first time in three years fewer than 900,000 vehicles came to Gasparilla Island.

"We're in a down cycle for the last two months with traffic the lowest in five years," Cooper said. "It's the economy. It's certainly not the weather, the fishing or the island."

Resident convenience will be paramount during bridge replacement, Cooper said. The Boca Grande Swing Bridge is the only land link from Charlotte County to the three barrier islands known as North, Cole and Gasparilla.

Cooper said two lanes will remain open at all times as the three separate bridges are replaced starting with the South Bridge, the farthest span from the toll gates. Cooper said he expects a bridge design request for proposals will be issued at the GIBA Board meeting.

"It's our smallest and least-expensive bridge," Cooper said.

A design package would not likely be approved before December 2010 due to the complexity of the project with the winning bidder approved no sooner than February 2011. This leaves little room for error in building the bridges in time for the expected 2013 replacement.

"It's not a problem as long as we have good, safe functional bridges," Cooper said. "But bridges take a long time to build."

The Boca Grande Swing Bridge is part of a rare group of nine surviving Florida swing bridges. All were built between 1916 and 1958 with Boca Grande's bridge the last of the bunch.

In other work, GIBA has been upgrading its toll system for a month. The East Transit Co. of Philadelphia installed and is testing the new $550,000 toll system in tandem with the old system, said installer Michael Llewellyn of East Transit. Toll lane computers have been moved from toll booths to the administration building for the first time.

After a month of tandem testing, the new toll system will be used solo in time for Thanksgiving, said Cooper.

"It's working out great," Cooper said. "It will be a quantum leap forward in customer service."

To Go

What: Gasparilla Island Bridge Authority meeting

When: 9 a.m. Nov. 18

Where: Boca Grande Community Center Auditorium

Why: To consider $40 million bridge replacement projects.

Who: Open to the public

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