Resolution would require study of PennDOT funding

A resolution recently adopted by the state Senate would direct the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to conduct a study on the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s (PennDOT) highway maintenance funding.

The committee must then issue a report within 12 months.

The study would review the funding formula of each County Maintenance Offices’ (CMO). “maintenance needs” versus “maintenance allocation.” It will examine PennDOT’s lane miles and bridges in each CMO including the number and percentage that are three and four-digit highways, vehicle miles travelled in each CMO, the percentage of State Highway Maintenance funding that goes toward major expenditures, state emergency funding totals by CMO for acts of nature, and PennDOT’s Road MaP (maintenance and preservation) program.

The study also will compare the 11 PennDOT Districts on the effects of winter maintenance including freeze/thaw cycles, snowfall averages, etc., and compare the conditions from 1997 to present and into the foreseeable future

Data analysis will determine what CMO’s may have been overfunded or underfunded.

“As you know, reliable and sustainable transportation funding remains an important issue in the Commonwealth,” state Sen. Lisa Baker (R- Pike County), who introduced Senate Resolution 53, said in January. “Critical for our residents and essential for commerce, elected officials must continue working towards adequate and fair funding for our interconnected transportation needs.”