Tolls on the Boulevard Bridge and exits on the Powhite Parkway and Downtown Expressway would increase at least 40 percent under a proposal the toll road authority will consider next month.

The Richmond Metropolitan Authority released the proposed figures yesterday, after revising some of the recommended increases downward by a nickel because the new 70-cent rate for the mainline toll booths that the authority's board set Tuesday also was below the 75-cent rate the staff had recommended.

James L. Jenkins, the RMA board's chairman, said yesterday that he expects the board will adopt the revised figures.

He also defended the increases against a torrent of criticism.

Jenkins said although the expressway expenses accounted for about half of the nearly $26 million the authority took in last year, the rest of that money goes toward paying off the $123 million in debt for the roads. The RMA also aims to maintain a $10 million cushion for unanticipated expenses.

"I don't like tolls more than anybody else, and the board works to hold the line," said Jenkins, who added he had supported an alternative rate of 65 cents. "This had to happen. I regret it. It's never an easy task."

Officials say the increases -- the first since 1998 -- will pay for more than $80 million in projected maintenance and construction costs during the next decade, including bridge repairs and high-speed, barrier-free toll lanes on the westbound Downtown Expressway. Such high-speed toll lanes are to debut on the Powhite Parkway this summer.

RMA officials also say the authority on July 1 will have to start picking up the estimated $500,000 annual cost for routine maintenance -- snow removal, pothole repair and grass cutting -- that the Virginia Department of Transportation historically has provided.

Alan Bowe, an electrician from Chesterfield County, questioned the need for the toll increase.

"For what? Who's begging for high-speed tolls? Not me," he said, adding that he pays his tolls with coins rather than using the E-ZPass system.

Bowe also wondered whether the toll revenue would be used just for the expressway system or to build a new baseball stadium. But officials have made a point of noting that expressway funds are not commingled with funding for The Diamond, which the authority owns, or with RMA-owned parking decks.

Chesterfield resident George A. Beadles said he wasn't surprised by the toll increase.

"I don't know how they've been able to hold them down that long. But once they do get to 70 cents, I hope they have a few improvements in store for us," he said. "I would rather see a raise every year than these catch-up raises."

Beadles suggested that if more people used E-ZPass, it could lower expenses because fewer booth attendants might be needed.

Linda Howell, an E-ZPass customer from Richmond, said she doesn't have a problem with the toll increases "as long as the roads are nice."

Alden Vaughan of Richmond, who was having lunch with Howell yesterday in Midlothian, said of the increase, "If they fix the potholes, it's OK with me."

All but one of Richmond's six representatives on the RMA board voted in favor of the increase.

Voting in favor were Charles Breckenridge Arrington Jr., A. Peter Brodell, Jacqueline G. Epps, Jennifer McClellan and Corey Nicholson, all of Richmond, and Gerald P. McCarthy, the Commonwealth Transportation Board's representative on the RMA board.

Opposing the increases were Jenkins and Reginald H. Nelson IV, both of Henrico County; Herman L. Carter Jr. of Richmond; and Charles H. Foster Jr. and Charles Richard White, both of Chesterfield.
Contact Kiran Krishnamurthy at (804) 649-6810 or kkrishnamurthy@timesdispatch.com.

Contact Wesley P. Hester at (804) 649-6976 or whester@timesdispatch.com.