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On a recent weekend, a friend and I decided to take a nice Sunday drive to Sanibel and Captiva Island. I hear their names quite frequently on the news, but having moved here just over a year ago, this was my first opportunity for a visit.

Trips such as this often yield unexpected surprises and I must say, both islands are quite beautiful. However, the biggest surprise for me was the $6 toll to get there.

Am I looking at Marco Island’s future? I pondered.

While the recently completed project included the replacement of not one, but three spans, the history, contention and results bare some striking similarities to what Marco Island faces.

The original bridges opened to traffic on May 26, 1963, replacing a ferry that had operated since 1912. The structures, the largest a drawbridge, were constructed along with two man-made island’s in 15 months at a cost of $2.73 million. With the new access, the area prospered and Sanibel was incorporated as Lee County’s third city in 1974.

As early as 1990, Lee County proposed replacing the spans with a single four-lane bridge. The idea was opposed by residents and later abandoned. Major repairs came in 1991 and 1997, yet in 2001 the bridges continued to show signs of deterioration.

During a routine inspection in 2003, cracks were found underneath the deck section of one of the bridges. The structure was reinforced, the speed-limit was lowered to 20-mph – 10 in some places – and a weight limit was placed on the bridge. It was completely shut down for one day while a section of the bridge was replaced.

At this point, Lee County decided to replace the structures. In November 2004, the $3 toll was increased to $6 to finance the $137 million project. The new bridges opened for traffic last September.

I don’t know what I find more surprising: That after several decades of tolling, more tolls were needed to pay for this structure; or that although the county recognized in 1990 that four lanes were needed, the new structures were built with only two lanes.

According to Wikipedia there are nine toll bridges in the state of Florida. Only two states have more, New York and New Jersey. Jersey only beats us by one bridge.

More than half of the state’s toll bridges can be avoided by detour, but Sanibel is not one of them. Marco would have one detour, but those who choose that out-of-the-way option will only hasten the need to replace that bridge.

Sanibel structures also stand as symbols that once a toll is added, it never goes away.

So why do toll roads exist in the first place? Politicians realize it’s quite unpopular to raise your taxes, thus this is one of many public programs (cough, education) that are woefully unfunded. Therefore, alternative means of funding are required. Additionally, politicians have discovered that private companies are willing to give state governments gobs of money now to manage toll roads and bridges well into the future. In a first-of-its-kind deal in the U.S., in 2004 private investors signed a 99-year lease on the 7.8-mile Chicago Skyway toll road for $1.83 billion. In our own back yard, Florida is discussing privatizing Alligator Alley. In other words, we benefit now; future generations pay the price later.

The responsibility of replacing the Judge S.S. Jolley Bridge ultimately rests on the state’s shoulders; it’s their bridge after all. But when all is said and done, we’re the state. So the decision is ours.

Accepting a toll would be bad for Marco’s businesses. The people that mow your grass, bag your groceries and serve your food are already at the low end of the pay scale. They cannot afford to pay the toll. A restaurant cannot pay their waiters more without charging you more for food. That food cannot be delivered to the island at the same price with a toll in place.

So businesses will pay more for their employees and products. Yet, they’re likely to have less business as a toll would tend to curb off island traffic. If they have to charge Islanders more, you’re less likely to eat out as often. Bottom line, many businesses won’t survive. With fewer visitors and fewer businesses, who makes up for that loss to the local economy? You do, of course.

As for all that money being collected at the toll, don’t bet that it stays here or helps our economy. A longstanding toll didn’t help Sanibel when the time came for a new bridge.

Tolls are not a solution. They’re a scapegoat that allows politicians to avoid financial responsibility and instead divide and conquer us. How many people off island are likely to oppose the toll? Few lead the charge anymore unless it affects them directly.

To summarize, there’s an old saying: Pay now or pay later. With a toll, you will pay now and you will pay even more later.