Danbury Chamber Opposes Border Tolls

If roughly 45 percent of the people visiting the Danbury Fair Mall and Federal Road stores are from New York, those shoppers will go elsewhere if Connecticut puts a toll on I-84, said Stephen Bull, president of the Greater Danbury Chamber of Commerce.

Bull said Connecticut has a reputation for making it hard to do business in state, and putting tolls on I-84 is par for that course. Isn't it about time Connecticut tried to turn that perception around? Bull said New York shoppers will simply go elsewhere.

"They have options," Bull said. "It's an additional expense the state keeps piling on."

Bull sent testimony to Hartford Monday with the goal, "to voice our strong opposition to the imposition of tolls in Danbury."

The chamber testimony argues traffic congestion gets worse every year in Danbury, and tolls will make it worse. He argued one reason the state got rid of tolls 20 years ago was to cut air pollution. He said if the state needs tax money as bad as it claims, why not put tolls over every river in the state, thereby spreading the tax burden to more people.