“I don’t see it happening anytime soon, but it’s definitely something we would not be in favour of,” Amherst Mayor Robert Small said. “It’s not something that would advantageous to our community or to Sackville.”
Small said there are a lot of Amherst residents working in Sackville and Moncton, and there are also a lot of people from the other side of the border working in Amherst.
Small believes the New Brunswick government would toll the new highway between Moncton and Fredericton before placing them at border entrances such as at Aulac, N.B.
Sackville’s Mayor Pat Estabrooks said she’s against tolls being placed either at the border or between Amherst and Moncton.
“It’s not a good idea,” said Estabrooks, who raised her concerns with New Brunswick Finance Minister Blaine Higgs several months ago. “In Sackville, it would be drastic. We’re neighbours and people in both communities shop in each others communities.”
Before a toll can be introduced, Estabrooks said New Brunswick law requires a plebiscite.
Sackville and Amherst are working together to promote tourism and economic development and both Estabrooks and Small said placing a toll at the border would create a barrier between the communities.
“I would feel the same if they were to place a toll in Moncton because our people work in Moncton as do some people from Amherst,” she said. “It’s not the right answer for increasing revenues in this province.”
During pre-budget consultations last year, tolling highways was suggested as a way to help cut the province’s $820-million deficit. The province did an informal study of the effectiveness of tolls in helping combat the deficit, but decided not to move forward at that time.
Amherst Daily News
