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I recently took a job as an on-call visit nurse with a local agency. A couple of nights ago, one of my colleagues had to make a visit to Grosse Ile and she was telling me that she had to pay a $2 toll to cross the bridge over to the island and then again to leave the island. My question is, does that pertain to both bridges that connect Grosse Ile to the mainland (I think there are two, right?), or is that just one of the bridges? We visited Grosse Ile a couple of years ago just to see what it was like (very nice, but I digress!) and I don't remember having to pay a toll. Could you please enlighten me on this? I know it doesn't seem like a lot, but hey...in this economy, $4 is $4. It would pay for a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread, KWIM? I guess that there is some way to get our company to reimburse us for things like bridge tolls, but I would rather avoid the situation altogether if there is an alternate way.
There are two bridges. One is private (toll) and one is public (free). The toll bridge is accessed in Riverview/Wyandotte near the end of Sibley road. The free bridge is accessed from Trenton next to Elizabeth Park. This is near the end of Van Horn road. If you are on the 75 freeway, get off on West. Take West East until you get to either Allen Road or Fort Street. Take Allen rigth to Van Horn and go left. If you take Fort, go right and then make a Michigan left to get to Van Horn.
Take Van Horn until it ends at Jefferson. Go left and then immediately right onto the birdge approach.
$4 gets to be very costly if you use the toll bridge every day. For me it is a big time saver and with the price of gasoline, it is almost a push to dirve an extra 6 miles to use the free bridge. However I still take the frree bridge as often as possible because the exhorbitant toll ticks me off. If you buy tokens, it works out to about $1.75 each way and if you buy a bridge transponder ($20 deposit I think) it is $1.50 each way. Even so, it is ridiculous for a crossing that is less than half a mile long.
If we were to use it regularly it would kill us. Even at $3 per use, we would use it 30 to 40 times a month per driver. That means $90 to $120 per month. Since we have 4 drivers, it could be as much as $480 a month for bridge tolls!
I encourage everyone to use the free bridge, even if the toll bridge is more practical for them. I think that the toll bridge owner is gouging people and it usage drops off, maybe he will wake up and lower the toll (or sell the bridge).
Thank you so much. I was just about 100% certain that the bridge that we went across wasn't a toll bridge, and I do remember now that we accessed it by way of West Rd. into Trenton and then by that nice park. So if I have to go to Grosse Ile in the future, I will definitely take the West Rd. exit, regardless of what my GPS says to do, because it will just recalculate the route for me if I don't go the exact way that it says to go and I will still be able to find the patient's house.
The toll bridge is a prettier bridge. You see more swans and less Edison Electric plant.
The real advantage is that it leads to Wyandotte and it is slighly closer to the 75 freeway (at sibley road). I am trying to time it to figure out whether there is a real difference. I think that it is about 5 minutes.
It really depends on where on Grosse Ile you are coming from or going to and where you are coming from or going to on the mainland. If you take the free bridge and are coming from the north, you have to dirve an extra three miles to get to the bridge.
For me, I am one mile from the toll bridge and a bit over two miles from the free bridge. If I am going north, that means I have to go two miles south and then come back north three miles. Getting to the freeway on West, you have to go through a lot more traffic lights than if you get up Sibley. The speed limit ont he free bridge is 35 and on the toll bridge 25, but tht is irrelevant because it is only 1/3 mile and everyone ignores the speed limit anyway. Both bridges are narrow especially on the swing portion. The toll bridge often has crews working on something, so you have to wait for the other lane to clear to go around them. It is only a few seconds, though, so no real impact there.
Lately I realized just how badly Mr. Smoke (toll bridge owner) is gouging us (residents) and I have pretty much stopped using the toll bridge altogether unless I am going to Wyandotte or somewhere near there and I am in a desperate hurry. Unless he lowers the price I intend to stop using the toll bridge and encourage others to do the same. Maybe we can send him a message.
The free bridge was closed for repairs from about May until December of 2008 (7?) I cannto remember the year, but the first day, there was an absurd line a tthe toll bridge and someone got in a fight. That is probably what you are remembering. That is when Mr. Smoke probably got accustomed to extreme wealth so he decided to raise the toll to maintain his lifestyle.
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