A plan to raise tolls by at least $1 at the Mackinac Bridge is drawing protests from communities that depend on the bridge, which is the only land link between Michigan's upper and lower peninsulas. Public hearings to discuss the proposed fee hike are scheduled.

Local officials and business owners are protesting the plan by the Michigan Department of Transportation and the Mackinac Bridge Authority to change the toll structure at the bridge in March 2003, The Associated Press reported. The proposal is to charge commercial vehicles $3 per axle, up from $2, and passenger vehicles $2.50, up from $1.50.

"Based on the existing toll structure, the board projects a budget shortfall in 2006," Bob Sweeney, the authority's executive secretary, said. "The cost of maintaining the bridge keeps going up. The MBA is totally self-sufficient and needs additional toll revenue to continue moving forward with plans to effectively maintain the structure."

Officials and business owners fear a sharp increase in tolls will run off tourist traffic in the same way that trucking traffic dropped off in 1995 after the authority raised commercial tolls.

Public hearings to discuss the plan are scheduled at:

• St. Ignace from 10 a.m. to noon Tuesday, Dec. 3, at Quality Inn, 913 Boulevard Drive;
• Mackinaw City from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 3, at Hamilton Inn, 701 S. Huron St.;
• Lansing from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 4, in the Lobby
• Conference Room of MDOT's Van Wagoner Transportation Building, 425 W. Ottawa St.