By Robert Hart, Staff Reporter 
Pickersgill
TOLL ROAD fees are set to soar as of tomorrow when the second leg of Highway 2000, connecting Kingston to Sandy Bay, Clarendon, is officially opened.
Robert Pickersgill, minister of transport and works, revealed yesterday that the new toll to be collected at the already operational Vineyards Toll Plaza in Bushy Park, St. Catherine, will be increased to a whopping $160, up from $50, for Class I vehicles including small motor cars.
"I have been informed that, once you look at the savings and relate them to costs, you are ahead of the game," Mr. Pickersgill said, in an effort to allay potential public outcry, during yesterday's post-Cabinet briefing at Jamaica House.
He suggested that motorists would experience significant decreases in the operational costs of their vehicles if they use the toll road.
TOLL RATES
The transport minister argued that the hiked toll rates, including substantial increases to $200 and $400, for Class II and Class III vehicles (increased from $60 and $120, respectively) must be understood in the context of the additional 23 kilometres of highway which will now take motorists into Kingston. Currently, the toll road encompasses about 14 kilometres between Clarendon and St. Catherine, which will be extended to end at Mandela Highway.
According to Mr. Pickersgill, motorists using the new segment from Kingston to Sandy Bay will be able to get on or off the toll road at three interchanges, including the Mandela Interchange, the Portmore Interchange and the Spanish Town Interchange.
At the same time, the existing access from the Old Harbour Road to Bushy Park will be closed and a new road will be opened to connect the Old Harbour roundabout to the new Spanish Town Toll Plaza.
At the new toll plaza, motorists will be required to dole out the original toll fees of $50, $60 and $120, to travel between Spanish Town, in St. Catherine, and Kingston or Portmore.
Yesterday, Mike Henry, Opposition spokesman on transport, told The Gleaner that he was being informed of the new toll rates for the first time and was wary of the increased costs to travellers.
"They have not had the courtesy of discussing it with the Opposition," he lamented.
Mr. Henry added: "At first blush, it sounds high, because people like myself, who travel three times a week to May Pen ... that sounds like a minimum wage."
Yesterday, Mr. Pickersgill said the new toll rate was determined after notices published in the press last month outlining the proposed use of and cost to use the road, and the examination of submissions made by interested parties.
"After considering the submissions of the interested persons, a Toll Order to take effect upon gazetting has been signed by me, setting out among other things the actual toll payable for use of the toll road," he said.
