TORONTO – If you’ve crossed the Blue Water Bridge this week, you may have noticed that the Michigan Department of Transportation’s proposal for a one-time 86 percent toll hike didn’t kick-in on New Year’s Day as originally planned.

The Ontario Trucking Association says it convinced MDOT to review the plan and agree to an incremental approach to allow carriers to make adjustments in the contracts with their customers. 

Instead of a hefty, direct increase from $1.75 USD per axle to $3.25 for commercial vehicles, MDOT will phase in the increase, first by raising tolls by 75 cents (USD) to $2.50 per axle as of January 5, 2010. The toll will then rise to $3.25 per axle on April 1, 2010.

Also, according to OTA President David Bradley, MDOT indicated it is willing to consider adopting a system of toll discounts for users with automated pre-paid accounts similar to the one used by Blue Water Bridge Canada. "

"The trucking industry let us know that our original proposal … was too steep for their current contracts to handle," said Michael Szuch, Blue Water Bridge manager in Port Huron. "We were willing to negotiate the timing of the full increase based on these concerns, but we are obligated to keep the bridge’s finances in good standing, so it was critical that we moved forward with the toll increase as soon as possible."

At first MDOT defended the increase on the basis that the Blue Water had lowest tolls of any of the major bridges and the U.S. side had not increased its tolls for 13 years.

The toll increases are expected to increase revenue by about $8-10 million (USD) a year and will help pay for upcoming maintenance needs, including bridge painting and re-decking needed in the next 10-15 years. Some costs associated with the upcoming bridge plaza project will be covered by the proposed increased revenue as well.

"While this is short of the delay in implementation we requested, it is an acknowledgement of the legitimacy of our concerns and will provide carriers with some relief and ability to pass the increased toll costs along," says Bradley.