News

November 28, 2007

Kanjorski: Toll all Pa. interstates

Entire state, not just I-80 drivers, should share in road work expense, he says.

JEREMY GRAD jgrad@timesleader.com

BLOOMSBURG – U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski has a radical solution he believes to be a more viable alternative to tolling Interstate 80 – put tolls on all Pennsylvania interstates.

At a public meeting at Bloomsburg University on Tuesday, Kanjorski, D-Nanticoke, said he didn’t want to toll anything, but the state’s road and bridge “infrastructure is obsolete” and needs money to update.

Kanjorski characterized the tolling of only the I-80 corridor as a “severe burden and disadvantage to this part of the state.”

“We’ve got a lot of people that will be unemployed if this toll goes through,” Kanjorski said.

Pennsylvania highways and bridges need a great deal of investment and improvement, Kanjorski added, but funding the repairs has to be made fair for Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Leasing I-80 would result in at least $1.7 billion annually for the state to carry out necessary roadway and bridge repairs, according to the state Turnpike Commission.

“I think the weight is excessive on the I-80 corridor,” Kanjorski said. “We need to toll I-95. That’s where the money is. Our biggest problem would be getting the people in the southeast to go along with it.”

Kanjorski said tolling all interstates in Pennsylvania would help level the playing field for business and bring the toll rates down.

Tuesday’s meeting was held at the request of Kanjorski and in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission to inform the public about Act 44 – the state Legislature-approved Turnpike Commission’s plan to lease I-80 for the next 50 years.

Less resistant path

Kanjorski said he believed that the state Legislature approved the lease of I-80 to the commission because “less senators and less representatives were affected by tolling I-80; it was the least politically expensive decision.”

“It was something that was decided in the 11th hour and it really didn’t have deliberative thought,” Kanjorski said of Act 44 as he wore a prominent anti-I-80 tolling button on his lapel.

Kanjorski said he thinks the Legislature should have considered more alternatives, such as: selling the turnpike; leasing the turnpike; raising the gasoline tax; increasing sales tax; or raising vehicle registration fees.

Leasing of I-80 from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to the Turnpike Commission is dependent upon the Federal Highway Administration granting approval. Kanjorski said he intends to work with other Pennsylvania congressmen to defeat the proposal.

Joseph Brimmeier, the Turnpike Commission’s chief executive officer and a key proponent of Act 44, has been involved in nine public meetings along the I-80 corridor since the Legislature approved the lease plan.

“All the tolls collected on I-80 will go into reconstructing I-80 and then in the bridge and road repair fund,” Brimmeier said. “Not one dime of money from tolls on I-80 will go to mass transit.”

I-80 stretches for 311 miles across the state. Act 44, however, allows for the implementation of only 10 tolling stations. Brimmeier said the cost traveling on I-80 will be the same as the cost of traveling on the turnpike: 8 cents per mile for a car, sports utility vehicle or small truck and 30 cents per mile for a tractor-trailer, increasing 3 percent per year.

Some motorists using the open toll road won’t pay at all, Brimmeier said, depending on where the toll stations are built.

“People could travel 25 to 30 miles without paying any toll,” Brimmeier said. “They’re going to be placed to have minimal impact on local residents.”

Tolling trend

Brimmeier and Kanjorski agree on at least one thing – the trend to turn interstates into toll roads is likely to spread all over the country.

“It is definitely more equitable when there is a user fee,” Brimmeier said. “You’re going to have to get to a point where users pay for the use of the road.”

Frank Kempf, chief engineer for the Turnpike Commission, said the future may lead to the tolling of multiple interstate highways.

“Act 44 empowers the Turnpike (Commission) to look at tolling additional interstates within the commonwealth,” Kempf said. “The goal here is to keep traffic that wants to be on I-80 on I-80. We do not want the traffic to bleed off the interstate. This will be done by placement of gantries. As the turnpike tolls go up, more and more trucks will divert to I-80. There’s no question about it.”

Steps to proposal

The Turnpike Commission submitted a plan to the Federal Highway Administration in October outlining goals and plans in regard to transforming I-80 into an open toll road.

Kempf said the next step is the FHWA granting “conditional provisional approval” to that plan.

“We’re hoping they make that decision within a month or before the end of the year,” Kempf said.

If the federal government does approve the plan, the Turnpike Commission will submit Phase II of the transformation plan. It will include a detailed application and precise findings from a traffic diversion study, environmental impact studies, studies of economic consequences, official toll rates and plans for road improvements.

The traffic diversion study is already under way, with the environmental impact study soon to follow. Kempf said if the FHWA grants conditional provisional approval, the Turnpike Commission plans to submit its Phase II application in the summer of 2008.

PennDOT now spends between $80 million and $100 million per year on I-80 maintenance. Kanjorski said he doesn’t think that is a sustainable situation.

“PennDOT is using a huge amount of money for taking care of I-80,” Kanjorski said. That’s money that won’t have to be used for upkeep if the turnpike commission’s plan is approved.

Details of proposal

• Cars, SUVs will pay an 8-cent-a-mile toll.

• Tractor-trailers will pay a 30-cent-a-mile toll.

• The Turnpike Commission has paid PennDOT $292 million this year in accordance with Act 44.

• Tolling I-80 will generate $1.7 billion a year.

Tweet	Follow @TLnews