I really have to wonder if the toll freeze is a detriment. We are talking about a facility that has 160 million vehicles using it per year to some extent and that number has grown from about 140 million in 2008. I know not all of them are paying the full distance toll by a long shot, but that's still a whole lot of revenue coming in every year for the number of lane-miles they have in their jurisdiction.
Of course, I'd rather just have NYSDOT be the sole transportation agency for roads and highways, get rid of tolls altogether and replace with federal and state VMT taxes, but here we are.
Most of these 160M vehicles pay $4.75 EZpass toll, that is $760M a year. Probably total is much lower, as $800M is total Thruway annual revenue, but let's go with that number
COst of the bridge is $4B, so in theory, the bridge can be paid off in 5.5 years. That is, assuming no maintenance, no loan interest and no outlay for future maintenance.
I would assume, after all is said and done, 20 years is more feasible timeline. Not great, not terrible..