New blow to pocket, Verrazzano-Narrows will charge toll in both directions – Telemundo New York (47)

The MTA announced that starting in December, the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge will collect tolls in both directions, the first time in 34 years.

Drivers using E-ZPass will pay $ 6.12 beginning December 1. Those without E-ZPass will have to pay $ 9.50, with the exception of Staten Island residents, who will only pay $ 2.75 to any address.

The MTA said the current fee will be split in two. The current toll bound for Staten Island costs $ 12.24 with E-ZPass and $ 19 for other users.

However, drivers traveling to Brooklyn have not paid the fare since 1986 after a federal law was enacted that designated that route as the only one in the United States with one-way tolls.

The charge is likely to push drivers to take the free route through Manhattan, potentially triggering unprecedented congestion on Manhattan’s Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and Canal St.

“Restoration of the split toll will end a 30-year loophole in New York City that will help ease congestion on Staten Island while improving the environment,” MTA President Pat Foye said in a statement.

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