After over 55 years of service, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge is being replaced. (It was rebuilt after it’s historic wave collapse in 1940.) Because of a shortage of public money, this time around much of the construction cost will be self-funded in the form of a $1.50 toll, collected each time it’s used. Sounds reasonable. Except there’s a problem.

Even police cars, fire engines and rescue vehicles, and ambulances could be required to pay it.

From the Seattle PI:

Commissioners have discussed exempting state Department of Transportation maintenance vehicles that service the bridge and Washington State Patrol troopers who work near it, said Reema Griffith, the commission’s executive director.

They’ve also discussed requiring that other emergency vehicles and first responders pay the toll fees, likely to be $1.50, by using windshield-mounted devices that automatically deduct toll payments from electronic accounts.

Under such a scenario, Griffith said, ambulance, fire or police crews could apply for credit to their accounts if they crossed the bridge while responding to emergency calls with their vehicles’ lights and sirens on.

The commission takes up the issue Monday as part of a formal proposal that will include toll costs. The proposal will be open to public comment for five weeks.

Griffith said commissioners are trying to make sure the tolls raise enough money to cover debt payments on the $849 million bridge.

“It’s going to be a cost for everybody,” she said. “If we don’t have enough toll revenue coming in, then some highway projects could be compromised. We certainly don’t want to go in the red.”

The prepaid fee would be tallied by a transponder box located in the vehicle which the emergency services would be required to purchase.

A better way to handle this would perhaps be to work out a payment arrangement with Gig Harbor and other cities on the far side of the bridge. Since service providers would be responding to calls from these communities, they, not the county departments, should foot the bill.