November 11, 2008 Gov. Patrick to unveil Turnpike dismantling plan Play video

(Scot Yount, NECN: Weston, MA) - Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick wants to dismantle the Turnpike Authority. It's a two part proposal that would merge Pike operations into the state highway department and the Port Authority.

Under the plan, expected to be unveiled later this week, Turnpike operations west of Route 128 would be folded into the Massachusetts Highway Department. Operations within Route 128, the so-called Metropolitan Highway System, would be folded into the Massachusetts Port Authority.

Massport already runs the Mystic Tobin Bridge and tunnels leading to and from Logan International Airport.

The plan is an attempt to improve efficiency and try to mollify public complaints amid talk of toll hikes necessary to repair aging infrastructure and pay off the debt of the nearly $15 billion Central Artery project, said the officials, both of whom demanded anonymity in advance of the governor's formal announcement.

Material from the Associated Press is included in this report.