Motorists will have to pay $2 to cross the Sydney Poitier Bridge to Paradise Island as of March 1, 2016 - a 100 percent increase of the current toll.
The Bridge Authority announced the toll increase during a contract signing at Atlantis resort for the refurbishment of the eastern bridge on Monday. That work will cost $5,354,021.50. Island Site Development was awarded the contract.
The bridge toll for all other vehicles and the cost of transponders will also be restructured to reflect a similar increase, according to Bridge Authority Chairman Rory Higgs. The new fee structure is expected to be publicized within weeks.
Higgs said despite the construction of the western bridge in 1998, the bridge toll has remained at $1 for the past 17 years. He said with additional service and increased cost to maintain the bridges an increase was unavoidable.
"We have taken on a considerable amount of additional expenditure and capital outlay and it is time now for us to set in place a revised toll structure that would allow us to service the bonds we have and also to cover operational expenses, which have grown at this time," Higgs said.
Asked about possible public backlash, Higgs said: "There has to be a cost for services rendered and we have pretty much absorbed the cost increases over time.
"To the general public, I would just like to say for 17 years to not have been subjected to an increase, I would hope that the public would see it as a reasonable position."
Labour Minister Shane Gibson noted that the cost of the work on the eastern bridge will be funded by a private placement (a stock or bond sold directly to a private investor) with The Central Bank of The Bahamas.
The Bridge Authority proposed a restructuring of the bridge toll for all vehicles to include value-added tax in July, 2015. The fee for crossing the Sydney Poitier Bridge would have been $1.08 as of July 13. However, the toll increase was abandoned after an overwhelming outcry from the public. The new increase includes VAT, Gibson noted.
The refurbishment work, which predominantly involves repairing fixtures, is expected to begin in two to three weeks and will take approximately 42 weeks to complete.
According to Higgs and Island Site Development President Larry Treco the disruption to motorists will be minimal, though the eastern bride may close for a day or two if the need arises. However, vendors who work directly under the eastern bridge will be impacted as the majority of work will be done overhead. Treco said the bridge would have met its life expectancy of 50 years next year. The refurbishment work is expected to expand that life expectancy by 28 years or to 2042.
The Guardian reported in January 2014 that despite initial indications from Higgs that the bridge "has pretty much exceeded its useful life", according to Ministry of Works Senior Structural Engineer Robert Mouzas, the need to build a third bridge is unnecessary.
In an interview following the contract signing, Atlantis Senior Vice-President for Public Affairs Ed Fields said he found out about the increase yesterday.
"You know, costs go up. That's a reality. But at the end of the day it will have an impact on our bottom line and we will see how we manage that situation," he said. "No one welcomes in any environment costs going up, but it goes up and then you have to contend with how you deal with that."
Atlantis subsidizes the majority of the toll cost for employees, Fields said.
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