Commuters who make the daily trip back and forth across the York River will finally get a respite, as the tolls on the George P. Coleman Memorial Bridge will be removed on Friday evening.
Removal of the tolls by the end of the calendar year was written into the state budget, which was signed into law in May. But there was no time placed on the removal, other than no later than Jan. 1, 2026.
The state agencies have come together to make this happen now. This, of course, is the second time that tolls have been removed. Tolls were first imposed when the bridge opened in 1952 and remained in effect until 1976. After the bridge was widened to four lanes in 1996 the tolls were reinstituted ostensibly to pay for that work. And they have remained in place ever since … until Friday, that is.
Since the Coleman Bridge was first constructed, Virginia has seen other bridges (notably the two spans on either side of the Town of West Point) constructed without commuters having to pay a toll. The remov...