Cape business leaders reject toll plan

BARNSTABLE, Mass. (AP) - Cape Cod business leaders are blasting a proposal to charge tolls at the Sagamore and Bourne bridges, with one calling it "a kick in the teeth."

The Cape Cod Commission, a regional planning agency, this week floated the idea of charging Cape visitors tolls at the bridges, where traffic is famously awful on summer weekends.

Driver's license plates would be snapped by a camera, and the drivers billed by mail.
Commission officials said the Cape needs a way to pay for a transportation infrastructure to support summer traffic.
Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce chairman Richard Nietz told the Cape Cod Times a toll would make a terrible "welcome mat" for tourists.

Cape Cod Canal Region Chamber president Marie Oliva predicted the idea would be universally rejected by Cape leaders.