Judge Delivers MassPike Drivers Another Setback
The lawyer representing a group of Massachusetts Turnpike drivers said he will appeal a ruling rejecting their effort to block the state from diverting their toll money to the Big Dig.
Class-action attorney Jan Schlichtmann is representing drivers who complain tolls from the east-west road have and continue to be diverted to pay for construction costs from the north-south Big Dig project.
“We intend to immediately appeal this ruling to the appeals court,” Schlichtmann said, “in hopes that the appeals court will vindicate this fundamental, constitutional principal: that fees cannot be imposed on people in which some are paying for the use of a system by the majority.
Middlesex Superior Court Justice Herman Smith Jr. on Monday denied a request for a restraining order to prevent the practice. Smith previously denied the drivers’ request to place a hold on Turnpike assets while their case was heard.
The judge’s refusal to grant an injunction against the turnpike is the second setback for the toll-payers, after he denied their request to place a hold on turnpike assets.
State Treasurer Timothy Cahill recently warned the Patrick administration it could face a $400 million claim if it lost the suit. A Turnpike official said Cahill’s letter contained “several basic inaccuracies.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
