The Pennsylvania state House voted on Tuesday to halt a plan by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to add tolls to nine bridges across the state.
Senate Bill 382, authored by state Sen. Wayne Langerholc (R-35), would shut down the current plan to put tolls on the bridges, including four on Interstate 80. The bill passed with partisan support and now returns to the Senate for concurrence after being amended in the House.
“Two of the bridges are on I-80 in Jefferson (North Fork) and Clarion (Canoe Creek) counties, not far from our districts,” said Rep. Tommy Sankey (R-Clearfield/Cambria). “In addition to significant truck traffic, these bridges are frequently used by local residents who would be asked to pay for the convenience of using the interstate, which is the primary reason I voted for the bill.”
Additionally, the bill would require Pennsylvania’s Public-Private Transportation Partnership (P3) board to develop an analysis of any proposed transportation project prior to approval. Legislators said the board failed to do that last November when it approved the toll initiatives without mentioning which bridges would be tolled.
Pennsylvania House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff (R-Centre/Mifflin) said the legislation provides more legislative oversight and community involvement.
“Being able to assess what amounts to a punitive tax on Pennsylvania commuters with scant legislative oversight and little community involvement is not what was contemplated by the original P3 legislation. The bill passed today restores the intended vision of legislative and community input in these important decisions,” Benninghoff said. “Advancing this legislation today is also critical given that more sensible funding options have been brought to light and the new influx of federal transportation funds allows us to reevaluate the need to fund specific projects with tolls and other state taxpayer dollars.”
The bridge replacements located throughout Pennsylvania would have been paid for by $1 to $2 tolls on various bridge spans including Girard Point Bridge in Philadelphia; I-83′s South Bridge across the Susquehanna River, a mile from the state Capitol; I-80′s bridge across the Lehigh River, near Wilkes-Barre; and I-79′s bridges over State Route 50 in Allegheny County, among others. The toll program was slated to last for more than 30 years. Advocates for Senate Bill 382 argued that the tolls would significantly add to the burden on the traveling public which already pays the second-highest gasoline tax in the country.