By Johnathan Graves
Buffalo, NY – County Clerk David Swarts addressed the Regional Transportation Planning Council Wednesday, asking its members to go on record in support of a proposal to relocate the Lackawanna toll booths.
Swarts presented a study completed in 2004 that concluded the Lackawanna toll booths could be relocated further west while not negatively affecting Thruway Authority revenue.
"We're asking this Council, which is responsible for implementing transportation policy in Erie and Niagara Counties, to join with us publicly to support this effort," Swarts said. "We think this is a good, first step to move toward the ultimate relocation of the Lackawanna tolls."
Swarts says the Lackawanna tolls impede economic development efforts in the Southtowns. He played a key role in the recent effort to get the tolls along the 190 removed.