WASHINGTON — Rep. Glenn Thompson said a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s virtual briefing on proposed tolls for Interstate 80 bridges was “was nothing more than a ‘checked box.’”
Thompson commented after PennDOT’s briefing for public officials on the I-80 North Fork bridges tolling project in Jefferson County. PennDOT plans to establish tolling at nine major bridges throughout Pennsylvania.
“During the briefing, PennDOT indicated that biweekly meetings have been occurring with the Federal Highway Administration on this issue for the past six months,” the Centre County Republican said. “This is the first PennDOT has publicly admitted engagement with the federal government over their tolling plan.”
Thompson said, as a result, he’s calling on PennDOT to make the notes of these meetings available, so the public has more information about what is being discussed behind closed doors.
“The lack of transparency at PennDOT continues to point to the larger issue at hand: they’re hellbent on tolling, facts be damned,” he said. “This is no way to run a public agency.”
I-80’s bridges across Canoe Creek in Clarion County could also be set for tolls.
PennDOT’s plan suffered a setback Nov. 16 when the Pennsylvania House passed a bill to void the proposal, although the legislation requires a Senate vote and faces opposition from Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf.
The Associated Press reported the tolling plan would pay for the bridges’ repair or reconstruction, freeing up money from the new federal infrastructure bill for other projects across the state. But opponents say tolls would hurt the local economy near the bridges, and there wasn’t enough public input.
State representatives voted 125 to 74 for requiring legislative approval of specific proposals to add tolls. The bill would require PennDOT to publicly advertise toll proposals, take public comment and seek approval from both the governor and the Legislature.
PennDOT has not made final decisions on which bridges to toll.
Tolls would be between $1 and $2, probably both ways, to help pay for about $2.2 billion in construction work. The tolls would be put in place from the start of construction in 2023 and could last for 30 years, PennDOT officials have said.
The seven other bridges that could be tolled are I-78’s Lenhartsville Bridge in Berks County; I-79’s bridges over Route 50 in Allegheny County; I-80’s Nescopeck Creek in Luzerne County and the Lehigh River, near Wilkes-Barre; I-81 over the Susquehanna River in northern Pennsylvania; I-83’s South Bridge across the Susquehanna River; and Girard Point Bridge in Philadelphia.
The Public Private Transportation Partnership board gave PennDOT the go-ahead a year ago to pursue tolls, the first time it’s approved a plan involving user fees since it was created in 2012.
