NEW YORK (AP) — The New York City Marathon organizers will soon have to pay a bridge toll, just like every other commuter, if New York transit officials have their way.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is demanding the New York Road Runners, organizers of the venerable race generally held the first Sunday of each November, pay roughly $750,000 for use of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge.
The agency that oversees New York's bridges and tunnels says the fee represents the estimated amount of toll revenue lost when the nation's longest suspension bridge is closed.
“New Yorkers love Marathon Sunday, but taxpayers cannot be expected to subsidize a wealthy non-government organization like the New York Road Runners to the tune of $750,000,” said Catherine Sheridan, president of MTA’s department of bridges and tunnels, in a statement.
But the Road Runners have pushed back, arguing the MTA enjoys increased revenue from greater transit ridership during marathon week that “more than makes up” for any lost toll revenue from the bridge. The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge connects the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Staten Island, and is named after the first European explorer to sail into the New York Harbor.
The organization also noted that the 2019 marathon generated an estimated $427 million for the city, significantly boosting tourism, tax revenues and the economy, according to an economic impact report it commissioned in 2020.
“The impact of MTA’s request would represent a material change to the cost structure and would require an increase to how much runners pay to run the Marathon, making it less affordable for local runners and those who travel to New York City from around the world—both of whom contribute hundreds of millions of dollars to the City’s and State’s economy,” Crystal Howard, a spokesperson for the organization, said in an emailed statement.
She said the organization has repeatedly asked the MTA to provide data to back up their claim of $750,000 in lost revenue loss but have not received it.
The agency has also declined to share data regarding the revenue generated by the increased ridership during marathon week, despite Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office announcing after last year‘s marathon that the MTA enjoyed “record subway ridership" on race day, Howard said.
The Road Runners, she added, are willing to negotiate with transit officials, but any resolution should reflect the “significant value” the agency derives from the marathon, which the organization says has been run over the bridge since 1976.
The MTA has also threatened to restrict the marathon to using just one of its two decks of traffic if it doesn't pay up, but the Road Runners have said such a move would significantly hinder the race, which is the largest marathon in the world, welcoming more than 50,000 participants annually.
The organization said it might have to either decrease the field of runners or extend the total time of the marathon, forcing the bridge and other roadways in the city to be closed even longer on race day.
The MTA declined to respond to follow up questions, but Sheridan, in her statement, said the agency is similarly open to working with the organization on a compromise, provided it "leads, over time, to full reimbursement for the lost revenue.”
FILE - Runners cross the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge at the start of the New York City Marathon in New York, Sunday, Nov. 6, 2022. The New York City Marathon organizers will soon have to pay a toll to cross a state bridge, just like every other commuter, if transit officials in New York have their way. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is demanding the New York Road Runners, organizers of the venerable race held the first Sunday each November, to pay roughly $750,000 for use of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
FILE - Runners cross the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge at the start of the New York City Marathon in New York, Sunday, Nov. 6, 2022. The New York City Marathon organizers will soon have to pay a toll to cross a state bridge, just like every other commuter, if transit officials in New York have their way. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is demanding the New York Road Runners, organizers of the venerable race held the first Sunday each November, to pay roughly $750,000 for use of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The major traffic artery linking New England with New York will be closed in Connecticut for days after a tanker fire damaged a bridge over Interstate 95, Gov. Ned Lamont said Thursday.
The tanker truck filled with gasoline burst into flames in a three-vehicle crash Thursday on I-95 in southwest Connecticut, closing the East Coast’s main north-south highway and causing major traffic jams. While Lamont said there were no serious injuries in the 5:30 a.m. accident in Norwalk, the crash caused damage to the bridge above it.
“The heat from the burning fuel compromised some of the bridge, so that bridge is going to have to come down and that demolition is going to start first thing tomorrow morning,” Lamont said at a briefing Thursday evening in Hartford.
He said the hope is to reopen the interstate by Monday morning.
Norwalk Mayor Harry Rilling said his city's schools will be closed on Friday. It's unclear whether they'll reopen Monday. He urged local employers to consider allowing employees to work from home on Friday, if possible, or use the MetroNorth commuter rail. Additional trains are being added to the rail line, officials said.
While the bridge was less than 10 years old, "the damage was pretty severe due to the amount of gasoline that was in the tanker ignited directly underneath the bridge structure,” Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto said. “The steel did begin to overheat and warp.”
The tanker had been carrying a load of about 8,500 gallons (about 32,000 liters) when it crashed beneath the Fairfield Avenue bridge, officials said. The overpass did not appear in danger of collapsing, said Scott Hill, chief engineer for the Connecticut Department of Transportation.
Eucalitto said it's unsafe to allow any traffic to pass underneath the bridge in either direction, so the entire bridge, which has beams that cross both spans of highway, has to be removed.
Large equipment was being brought to Connecticut Thursday evening to complete the demolition, which is expected to begin around 3 a.m. on Friday. Lamont said the work could take 24 hours or longer to complete. After that, the roadway may need to be repaved before it can reopen.
It will likely take about a year to replace the bridge, a major artery for the city of more than 91,000 people. Lamont said he is hoping to receive federal reimbursement to cover the cost.
“I’m glad everyone is OK,” Lisa Brinton, who lives south of I-95, told Hearst Connecticut Media. “My concern is the after effect. Norwalk is divided in half by 95 and I drive over Fairfield Avenue bridge everyday.”
The cause of the crash remains under police investigation and no charges have been filed.
About 160,000 vehicles travel that portion of I-95 in both directions daily, Eucalitto said.
Traffic was backed up for dozens of miles during the morning rush hour, and lengthy delays remained in the area into Thursday evening and were expected through the weekend. Slow-moving detours were set up, taking traffic off the highway and around the accident scene. The crash left other highways and secondary roads in gridlock. The major alternate route in the area, the Merritt Parkway, cannot be used by trucks because the underpasses on that highway are too low.
Text alerts were sent to residents of Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, and trucking companies who use the section of I-95 were notified to find alternative routes and means of travel, he said. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg also was notified.
“I know what an incredible inconvenience this is for people and all I can ask you to do is stay away from that area as best you can,” Lamont said during an earlier briefing in Hartford. “The traffic jams are horrendous.”
Crews offloaded about 4,000 gallons (about 15,142 liters) of gasoline that was unburnt and remained on the tanker. Utility crews were also working to replace downed wires.
Environmental crews worked to clean up gasoline and firefighting foam. The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said the runoff was contained to a retention pond and did not make it into the Norwalk River or the city's harbor.
The accident was reminiscent of last year's deadly accident in Philadelphia along I-95 when a tractor-trailer carrying gasoline lost control and caught fire, destroying a section of the highway.
The crash also came just over a year after a similar wreck on I-95 in Connecticut that forced the closure of the highway.
In April 2023, another fuel truck caught fire after colliding with a stopped car on the Gold Star Memorial Bridge between New London and Groton. The fuel truck driver was killed. The crash shut down the southbound side of the bridge for hours, while the northbound side was closed briefly. The driver of the car was recently charged with negligent homicide.
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Associated Press writer Dave Collins contributed to this report
In this image provided by the Connecticut Governor's Office, emergency personnel work at the scene of a fiery early morning crash that left both sides of Interstate 95, the East Coast’s main north-south highway, shut down in southwestern Connecticut., Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Norwalk, Conn. (Norwalk Fire Department/Connecticut Governor's Office via AP)
In this image provided by the Connecticut Governor's Office, emergency personnel work at the scene of a fiery early morning crash that left both sides of Interstate 95, the East Coast’s main north-south highway, shut down in southwestern Connecticut., Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Norwalk, Conn. (Norwalk Fire Department/Connecticut Governor's Office via AP)
This image provided by the Norwalk Police Department shows the scene of a tanker fire on I-95 in Norwalk, Conn., Thursday, May 2, 2024. Both sides of I-95, the East Coast's main north-south highway, were shut down — causing “horrendous” traffic jams — following the early morning crash involving a passenger car, a tractor-trailer and a tanker truck carrying 8,500 gallons (about 32,000 liters) of gasoline. (Norwalk Police Department via AP)
