No Toll Hikes on Thruway in 2017

If you are a commuter this is great news.

According to the Times Herald Record, the New York State Thruway Authority announced on Monday that they have adopted a 2017 budget that will keep tolls the same for the seventh year in a row.

Governor Andrew Cuomo pledged last year to keep tolls at current levels through 2020 and it looks like the Thruway authority is doing everything they can to keep that pledge.

Thruway authority chief financial officer, Matt Howard, told the Record that the $1.84 billion budget is 10 percent lower than the 2016 budget and that the authority is spending around $3.9 billion to replace the Tappan Zee Bridge. The first of the two new spans will open early next year and the second sometime in 2018. He also said that they are also struggling to keep the 570 mile Thruway in good condition.

Howard said more than half of the 2017 budget will be spent on capital projects like the new Tappen Zee Bridge, other bridges and the New York State Thruway.