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Construction near the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport began in 2013 and is expected to be completed later this year.

The $41.91 million project will provide better traffic flow through Dupont and Avoca.

Carroll

The road less traveled doesn’t go through Pennsylvania.

A highway network battered by Father Time and surging traffic volume left the state transportation department hamstrung in recent years by a shrinking budget and a laundry list of upgrades. Now, a funding source from nearly two years ago is starting to look like the light at the end of the tunnel.

The downtrodden condition of Pennsylvania’s infrastructure has long been a bone of contention for motorists and lawmakers alike. When it was signed into law by former Gov. Tom Corbett in 2013, Act 89 became the most comprehensive, unprecedented piece of state transportation legislation in decades.

The act begins to address some of the state’s nagging transportation issues by generating funds toward state and local roads and bridges, public transit, turnpike expansion projects and other areas of need. It is estimated to generate more than $2 billion annually by 2018.

Strapped for sufficient federal funding, the promise of additional aid was welcome news to transportation officials.

Immediate impact

Going into 2014, PennDOT faced a limited budget and a daunting amount of paving projects. A little over a year later, the act helped officials bid on or complete more than 200 projects to improve 83 bridges and pave nearly 1,600 roadway miles.

“Because of Act 89, our resurfacing for 2014 went from zero to over a hundred linear miles. That’s just one example of what it’s helping us do,” said James May, PennDOT community resource coordinator for the regional office in Dunmore.

May said funds are divided among the 67 counties in the state. Luzerne County receives about $5 million.

State Rep. Mike Carroll, D-Avoca, said the legislation begins to help balance shortfalls in the federal transportation budget.

“The state and its motorists desperately need funds to address lingering road issues and Act 89 funding was a really big step in the right direction,” said Carroll, a member of the House Transportation Committee.

The act will create or preserve more than 62,000 jobs, according to plan documents.

In Luzerne County, Act 89 helped facilitate 11 bridge and pavement repairs last year alone.

Other jumps from funding helped develop plans for the Airport Interchange Project near the Avoca exit on Interstate-81.

Major project

The $41.91 project is regarded as one the most ambitious in the recent history of PennDOT district 4-0, which includes over 3,600 miles of state roadways in Lackawanna, Luzerne, Pike, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming counties.

Carroll said the project is vital to reducing traffic and extending the life of area roads.

“It took PennDOT many years to attack that project due to lack of funding,” Carroll said. “The state needs that funding to address lingering road issues, and Act 89 funding was a really big step in the right direction.”

Construction began last year and will widen I-81 in addition to building new on- and off-ramps, 3 new roundabouts, 2 new bridges, and the construction of a new roadway. Two existing bridges will also be repaired.

More importantly for motorists, it will reduce truck volume via construction of a new roadway that will connect the Grimes Industrial Park in Pittston Township to one of the roundabouts near the airport. The shortcut will allow trucks to travel directly from the highway to the industrial park, keeping them from bogging down traffic in residential areas. It is scheduled to be completed sometime this year.

Currently about two-thirds away from its highest funding output in 2018, state roads and bridges stand to receive the highest concentration of funding under the act – $1.3 billion.

And the need is real. A 2014 report on the state infrastructure by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) said Pennsylvania ranks dead last in the country in structurally unsound bridges. Nearly 25 percent are considered structurally deficient, while nearly 20 percent are considered functionally obsolete.

Meanwhile, the same study declared 15 percent of major state roadways in poor condition.

District 4-0 executive George Roberts said the two shortfalls were related.

“Because of how tight of funds were getting and the fact that we had to focus more of our money toward our structurally deficient bridge situation, it hurt our highway system,” Roberts said.

While Act 89 funding is a huge step, the ASCE report said even with the additional funding, estimates show more than 60 percent of funding needs for local bridges will not be met by 2019.

Many roads

Among PennDOT’s many challenges is the abundance of state routes.

“It’s the same amount of miles if you went from here to Anchorage, Alaska and back,” May said. “And that’s just in our six counties here.”

Nevertheless, the funding remains essential to continuing or improving projects that wouldn’t be getting significant attention otherwise.

For 2015, PennDOT currently has over 100 miles of planned resurfacing as a direct result of Act 89, including nearly 30 percent in Luzerne County.

Funding is produced through several initiatives of the plan.

The acts eliminates a 12-cent flat gas tax, offset by an increase in the mileage rate of the Oil Company Franchise Tax, a tax on gasoline and diesel at the wholesale level.

The act also increases fees associated with drivers licensing, vehicle registration fees and fines for traffic violations.

A four-years driver’s license will remain $21 before assuming a 3 percent annual inflation in July, bringing the cost to $24 by the 2017-2018 fiscal year. Registration fees for passenger cars will also rise by 3 percent in that time period, bringing the cost to $40.

Motorists driving without insurance will have the choice to pay a $500 fine in lieu of a three-month plate suspension.

Carroll said the changes give PennDOT flexibility it hasn’t had in years.

“They’re doing a good job. They did a good job before. But Act 89 gives them the opportunity to do an even better job,” Carroll said.