Where have all the tolltakers gone?

I received this soon after the removal of the tolls on the I-190:

Hi…
I was reading about the removal of the tolls in the blog, and caught the line about “everybody wins”.

Not everybody.

There’s about 150 of us down here maintaining I-84 that have no idea one way or the other about your toll booths. All we really know for sure is that, because two tolls booths way, way, way upstate were closed…the jobs we’ve held for the last 15 years are likely gone. I’m assuming there’s quite a local residents having served as toll collectors, full and part-time, that are also out of work now.

While I certainly understand your glee, you might consider those of us who have nothing to do with any of this are now facing very uncertain futures.

I, myself, am one…and am a week away from the closing of my “new” home. Pardon me if I don’t join your celebration.

[name withheld]
Middletown Maintenance

Middletown is located in Orange County, which has in recent years become a New York City exurb.

Sometimes, tough decisions have to be made. Politicians and businesspeople have to make difficult cost/benefit analyses on a daily basis. Sometimes those analyses are tough, sometimes they’re easy. This one is a no-brainer.

I contacted the Thruway Authority to get answers to the emailer’s concerns. This is what I received from Thruway spokesperson Betsy Graham:

The 14 full-time Toll collectors who worked at Black Rock and City Line have been reassigned to other interchanges in the Buffalo area.

The Authority will be discussing the October 30, 2007 return of I-84 maintenance responsibilities to the Department of Transportation (DOT) over the next several months. Additionally, the Authority will work with DOT on measures to protect Thruway Authority employees. At this point, no staffing decisions have been made. Until then, Authority employees will continue to maintain I-84.

The local employees are protected. The Middletown employees’ fates are undetermined, but for now, they’re not abandoned.