A look back: The toll Jacksonville’s toll system had on the city’s history

Drivers once stopped to pay before crossing some bridges in River City

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – If you live in Jacksonville long enough, you’re sure to complain about the traffic. It’s basically a River City right of passage.

But those who lived and drove in the area from the 1950s to the 1980s remember a different source of traffic complaints: Tolls.

From the congestion of cars lining up to pay their way to the cost of the tolls themselves, drivers had plenty to protest.

And when the city needed to fund the construction of the Dames Point Bridge, the cost of tolls went up – with no end in sight. (WJXT)

Tolls were how the city paid for bridge construction from the Mathews Bridge to the Fuller Warren and Trout River bridges to the Hart Bridge and even the Dames Point Bridge.

But toll collections continued long after the costs of construction were paid off – a fact that didn’t sit well with citizens.

The Mathews was the first toll bridge, with booths put up in the 1950s shortly after it was built. There was even a toll along J. Turner Butler Boulevard.

The Mathews was the first toll bridge, with booths put up in the 1950s shortly after it was built. (WJXT)

And when the city needed to fund the construction of the Dames Point Bridge, the cost of tolls went up – with no end in sight.

That is until voters in the 1980s decided they’d had enough.

In the ‘80s, Channel 4 took up the cause, looking at the effectiveness of tolls. WJXT Editorial Director and former City Councilman Harry Reagan remembers how that began.

“Tolls were one of those things the average person might have said, ‘They are here, can’t do anything about that,’ and Channel 4 had the audacity, the courage, whatever word you want to use, to take a look at another issue that maybe something could be done,” Reagan said. “On so many levels tolls were unfair because only people who used the toll bridges paid.”

Tolls were a campaign issue for the late Tommy Hazouri when he ran for mayor in 1987. After he was elected, a measure was put on the ballot asking voters: Should tolls be replaced with a half-cent sale tax?

Tolls were a campaign issue for the late Tommy Hazouri when he ran for mayor in 1987. (WJXT)

“This is an opportunity for the people to speak once and for all about how we want our transportation system funded as we enter the 21st Century,” Hazouri said at the time.

It was a close race, but the tax won out and in 1989, there was a huge celebration with music at the tolls plaza, dignitaries from around the state and the toll booth at the Mathews Bridge being demolished in a symbolic ceremony.

The toll booth at the Mathews Bridge was demolished in a symbolic ceremony after toll booths were voted out. (WJXT)

Former JTA CEO Michael Blaylock was the director of transportation at the time. He helped Hazouri push the idea of ditching the tolls in favor of the tax and said it made a fundamental change in Jacksonville.

“It certainly cleared up our pollution issues of stalled cars waiting to get through the toll system,” Blaylock said.

Optional express lanes, which charge tolls electronically only, have been added in certain areas around town. (WJXT)

Now, tolls are making a comeback in the city -- in a different way.

Optional express lanes, which charge tolls electronically only, have been added in certain areas around town. For more information on the current express lane tolls, go to https://northfloridaexpress.com/JTB/Faq or http://firstcoastexpressway.com/.


About the Authors:

Jim Piggott is the reporter to count on when it comes to city government and how it will affect the community.

A Jacksonville native and proud University of North Florida alum, Francine Frazier has been with News4Jax since 2014 after spending nine years at The Florida Times-Union.