Tolling of the Interstate 83 bridge over the Susquehanna River a proposal to pay for its replacement and maintenance prompted questions and criticism of the state Department of Transportation during a telephone town hall on Tuesday night.
PennDOT held an hourlong session as part of its public meeting on the planned replacement of the aging structure. About 100 people attended. The new bridge would be wider, with five lanes in each direction. The project, which includes work in the Lemoyne area, is estimated to cost $500 million to $650 million.
With declining revenues, which mostly come from gas taxes, PennDOT has proposed a public-private partnership for replacing, operating and maintaining the structure over a 25-year period. Drivers would pay a toll likely $1 or $2 to cross the bridge in each direction. About 125,000 vehicles cross the bridge daily.
Bridge tolls ain’t it: Lawmakers introduce bill to void proposed PennDOT toll plan
Updated Mar 11, 2021;
Republican lawmakers on Thursday decried PennDOT’s proposal to toll bridges in the state to fund repair and replacement projects.
State Sen. Wayne Langerholc Jr., a Republican representing Cambria, Bedford and Clearfield counties, said he became aware of the “major tolling initiative” when he took over as chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee.
The plan was “lurking under the water” and would impact a significant number of Pennsylvanias, he said at a news conference Thursday in Harrisburg.
The toll initiative under PennDOT’s Pathways Major Bridge Public-Private Partnership (P3) was approved without revealing which projects would be affected: PennDOT identified the nine bridges last month. Langerholc said the decision was also made with input from the trucking industry.
Michael DiVittorio | Tribune-Review
Lucha Street Tacos in South Fayette is one of many businesses that could be impacted by a proposed toll for a bridge widening project along I-79, according to owner Marc Snider.
Michael DiVittorio | Tribune-Review
South Fayette Township commission president Gwen Rodi talks about the impact a proposed toll of a bridge along I-79 could have in her community.
Michael DiVittorio | Tribune-Review
State Sen. Devlin Robinson, R-Bridgeville, left, and state Rep. Jason Ortitay, R-South Fayette, voice their opposition to a proposed toll on a bridge along I-79.
Michael DiVittorio | Tribune-Review
A proposed toll to fund the widening and upgrades to this I-79 bridge and Bridgeville interchange has some state and local lawmakers and business owners concerned.
The Center Square
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation said Tuesday specifics about a plan to toll nine bridges across the state remains under development, though drivers may see the fees as soon as 2023.
“Nothing is final,” Transportation Secretary Yassmin Gramian said during a House Appropriations Committee budget hearing. “Nothing is definite yet.”
The plan – a result of a public-private partnership program – would generate $2.2 billion over 30 years to fund repairs and maintenance for nine bridges in Pennsylvania nearing the end of their life cycles.
Ballooning maintenance costs and dwindling funding from the state and federal governments over decades means PennDOT operates with the less half of the $15 billion it needs to keep its roads and bridges updated.
New Jersey s George Washington Bridge interchange the worst freight bottleneck in U.S.
The intersection of I-95 and New Jersey Highway 4 at the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, New Jersey, is once again the worst freight bottleneck in the U.S. for the third straight year, according to research from the American Transportation Research Institute.
In its
2021 Top Truck Bottleneck List, ATRI measured the level of truck-involved congestion at over 300 locations on the national highway system. The analysis is based on truck GPS data from over 1 million trucks. The bottleneck locations detailed in the latest ATRI list represent the top 100 congested locations, although ATRI continuously monitors more than 300 freight-critical locations.