To the editor:

With all the hullabaloo about the tolls on the tunnels, there may be a silver lining in these dark clouds. The tolls may entice more consumers in Western Tidewater to shop at our local stores here, instead of freely giving sales tax money to the cities of Eastern Tidewater, who could care less about their Western Tidewater neighbors.

Why was there not a great outcry when the Chuckatuck Bridge was closed in Western Tidewater in 2005, and money has never been found to re-build it?

As Western Tidewater has been abandoned by our Governor and the Republican majority in the General Assembly, maybe it is time to start an independent party to elect officials who truly represent our area.

William P. Blair

Suffolk