ST. JOHN, N.B. – Mayor Shirley McAlary believes tolled expressways is the way to go for St. John.

If the provincial government was willing to go along with the deal, it might be feasible to build the long talked-about One Mile House interchange connecting Russell St. to the Saint John Throughway, as a toll road, she says.

“People complain all the time about Rothesay Avenue and about conditions in the city. If we wanted to have those roads better, collect a toll, and dedicate that money to maintaining the roads, then probably everybody would be happy,” she says. McAlary was commenting on a news report that the Halifax Regional Municipality is negotiating with the Province of Nova Scotia to build several expressways into the heart of the city that would enable drivers to avoid congestion.

“People that don’t drive cars, why should they pay to maintain roads? The people who drive cars and trucks, they have an obligation to look after the maintenance of the roads,” says McAlary.

But that’s not likely to happen in St. John, she says. Such a project would have to be authorized by the province. And Premier Bernard Lord’s P.C. Government came to power on an election promise to get rid of toll highways.