Governor Deval Patrick, who has reluctantly endorsed unpopular toll increases, acknowledged in a radio interview yesterday that it might be possible to find alternativesto that strategy."It's possible. . . . But we'd better find those alternatives in time," he said, after warning that the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority faces immediate financial problems.
Patrick made the comments on WTKK-FM's "Ask the Governor" show at the same time that he reaffirmed previous statements that the toll increases are probably an inevitable, though painful, response to the authority's longstanding problems.
But the small rhetorical opening coincides with Patrick's appointment of a new transportation secretary, James A. Aloisi Jr., who has said he will reevaluate the toll increases.
Patrick has promised this month to present legislators with a more comprehensive fix to the state's transportation woes; he said yesterday it would probably be next month. In November, House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi endorsed an increase to the gas tax instead of raising tolls.
The Turnpike Authority board gave preliminary approval to toll increases in November that would double cash tolls to $7 at the Sumner and Ted Williams tunnels and raise tolls at the Weston and Allston-Brighton booths to $2, from $1.25. The board had been scheduled to take a final vote on the toll increases Jan. 15, but that meeting has been pushed back to Jan. 22.
One of the authority's most urgent financial pressures - stemming from a risky investment - has eased since the November vote, but the authority is still at risk of seeing its credit rating reduced to junk bond status.
UPDATE: More from the Globe.
SECOND UPDATE: More from the Globe.
