AGO Opinion Topics: 4TH CLASS

(1) A fourth class county does not have the authority to construct and operate a toll bridge. (2) Under the provisions of chapter 47.56 RCW, the Washington toll bridge authority may construct a toll bridge over a river constituting the boundary line between two counties of the state and over a route which would become a part of the county road system but not a state highway. (3) The two affected counties may participate in such construction. (4) Anticipating such construction and participation, the counties involved may not, as a feasibility study, impose a present toll on a presently existing bridge in the immediate vicinity of the proposed new bridge with an understanding that if the proposed facility is not built, the tolls thus collected would be applied to maintenance and repair of the existing facility.