NORTH KEY LARGO – Ken “Cowboy” Murray got a lot of hugs, handshakes, well-wishes and gifts Thursday morning as he collected tolls for the last time at Monroe County’s Card Sound Bridge Tollbooth.

At midnight, the manned tollbooth will close for good. Construction will soon begin on an All Electronic Tolling System. The new system will not accept cash – only SunPass® or drivers will get a bill in the mail through TOLL-BY-PLATE.

The new system is scheduled to begin operation March 9, 2018. During the expected 189 days of construction, no tolls will be collected. Some lane closures will take place. Those closures will be publicized when the schedule is known.

The cost of the new toll will go before the Monroe County Board of County Commissioners for discussion and approval in the fall. There will continue to be discount programs, likely in the form of an annual pass and a monthly rebate program.

Unused discount tickets may be returned for a refund. This can be done at point of sale or by mailing them to the Clerk of Court, P.O. Box 1980, Attn: Charlie Bradford, Key West, FL 33041.

Please mail the unused tickets with a note that includes: your name, the number of tickets being returned, a phone number and an address where your refund check can be mailed. For any questions regarding tickets for the Card Sound Bridge toll plaza, please call Finance Revenue Clerk at 305-292-3417.

The design build contract for the new All Electronic Tolling System is $1.79 million, with Halley Engineering Contractors, Inc. This is for removal of the tollbooth and buildings around the tollbooth; demolition and reconstruction of the concrete pad; installation of utilities, the toll equipment building and gantry; mill and resurfacing of the road; installation of new lighting and signage.

Engineering consultants Keith & Schnars reviewed the design with County staff and will oversee construction.

Transcore is installing the electronic tolling system that includes camera readers, wiring and computer hardware and programming. That contract is $834,800, although about $166,000 is for contingencies that may not be needed. The entire project is paid for using the Card Sound Toll Fund.

For Monroe County and Murray, it is the end of an era. It was the last manned toll in the Keys.

Driver after driver told Murray on Thursday: “I am going to miss you.” A few left in tears. For 25 ½ years, since February 1992, he has been collecting money and giving many of his customers little gifts, including fruit from his farm, candy at Easter and treats for their dogs. Everyone got a warm smile and authentic greeting. It’s even where he met his wife, Patti.

Murray was known for wearing a daishiki, an African shirt made from colorful fabric, and a Cowboy hat. The daishiki that he wore on his last day was a gift from one of his favorite patrons.

“We’re like a family,” Murray said, before collecting his last toll at the end of his shift at 1:30 p.m. “I am done. I just took my last car.”

ABOUT THE CARD SOUND BRIDGE TOLLBOOTH:

• It opened July of 1969 with the completion of the new, elevated Card Sound Bridge. Records are sketchy, but the original toll is believed to be about 25 cents.
• Since 1969, about 90 million axels, the equivalent of about 45 million cars, have gone through the toll, based on historical data. The tolls have generated about $39 million.
• In 1990, there were two consecutive robberies at the tollbooth, the first robberies ever there.
• In Sept. 1992, the Monroe County Commission voted to raise the toll to $1.50 (75 cents per axle). The increase was for a $10-million project to raise the low-lying road. At some point the toll appeared to be as high as $2.00 per car before returning to $1.00 (50 cents per axle) for the past two decades.
• Hurricane Andrew in 1992 wiped out most of the buildings along Card Sound Road. Toll collectors fled to Homestead. The “Welcome to the Keys” canopy was found floating in the bay. The tollbooth made of concrete was still standing.
• Folk singer Laura Jennings Oudin wrote a song about Card Sound Road called “Tollbooth Romance.”

MANNED TOLL LANES LEFT IN FLORIDA

• Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise, which is responsible for collecting most of the tolls in the state, now has 159 manned toll lanes. Here is the breakdown: There are 90 lanes in the northern region and that includes FTE roads and FDOT-owned roads (Skyway, Bayway) and Mid Bay Bridge Authority. There are 69 lanes in the southern region, which includes FDOT-owned roads (Alligator Alley).
• There are other tolling agencies across Florida that still collect tolls manually as well. These include: 3 manned lanes in Escambia County for the Bob Sikes bridge; 3 manned tollbooth plazas in Lee County/Fort Meyers area (Midpoint Memorial Bridge, Cape Coral Bridge and Sanibel Causeway) and between 30 to 40 manned toll lanes at a given time, based on traffic volumes, at the Central Florida Expressway Authority (Orlando area).

 

Photos by Cammy Clark. Monroe County’s Card Sound Bridge manned tollbooth is closing at midnight, Aug. 31, 2017, to make way for a new All-Electronic Tolling System. Ken “Cowboy” Murray, who worked at the toll booth for 25 years, received lots of hugs and handshakes during his last shift.