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Drivers speak out about proposed toll on bridge in Susquehanna County
MSN ^ | February 19, 2021 | Courtney Harrison

Posted on 02/24/2021 4:00:28 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks

The Great Bend-Hallstead exit (230) off Interstate 81 in Susquehanna County is due for repair in the next few years and PennDOT has proposed installing an electronic toll, that would use E-ZPass or pay-by-plate collection for drivers who pass through the area. The funds collected would be used to pay for the construction, maintenance, and operation of that bridge.

We spoke with several people who use this section of highway about the proposed idea.

"I guess to raise taxes to everybody is really hard, so I guess for the people using the road, then maybe that's a good idea," said Gwen Chianese of Susquehanna.

"I'm opposed to it, and I think it's just another means of taxing, and I just don't think it's necessary," said Tony from New Milford.

Mike Ryder from Great Bend says his household will end up paying more.

"My fiancé, she works at the hospital so five days a week she's working and that's going to add up right there," said Ryder.

(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government; News/Current Events; US: Pennsylvania
KEYWORDS: chat; construction; hallstead; harrisburg; i78; i79; i80; i81; i83; infrastructure; localnews; p3s; paping; penndot; pennsylvania; ppps; repairs; revenues; susquehannacounty; taxes; tollbridge; tolls; tomwolf; transportation
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To: maddog55

Exactly, We own a Summer Home in Susquehanna County and the taxes we pay to the town/county have been sent to Harrisburg for the past few years to pay for Tom Wolf’s “projects” leaving our roads in deplorable condition. I never thought I would buy all my gas in NY but it is cheaper!


21 posted on 02/24/2021 6:10:29 PM PST by Shady (Rest in Peace, Rush, and thank you... )
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To: Born to Conserve

It sounded to me like they would simply place a gantry at one end of each bridge.


22 posted on 02/24/2021 7:11:58 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (GOP-free since 10/9/20)
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To: Alberta's Child

Then why do the say “... would use E-ZPass or pay-by-plate collection for drivers who pass through the area.” That is not the same as tolls on a bridge.

Are you promising that the government isn’t going to use tolls all over the place now that they can send a bill to anyone? You’re crazy!


23 posted on 02/24/2021 7:20:26 PM PST by Born to Conserve
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To: zek157

You stated...”Nobody in PA stood up against the voter fraud”..

That’s a flat out lie!


24 posted on 02/24/2021 11:56:05 PM PST by caww
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To: Born to Conserve
I think the language they use is poorly written.

The advantage of tolling a major highway is that it carries a lot of traffic and it serves a lot of motorists who may not pay any other taxes in the state but use the roads.

Put a toll collection system on a local road and you would have a hard time collecting enough revenue to even pay the cost of setting the system up and operating it.

25 posted on 02/25/2021 2:42:13 AM PST by Alberta's Child ("And once in a night I dreamed you were there; I canceled my flight from going nowhere.")
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To: 2banana
I don’t work for PennDOT but I am familiar with the agency. I’m going to defend them here by pointing out something very relevant to this discussion. There are four basic reasons why Pennsylvania is in such dire straits when it comes to road maintenance:

1. The highway system is very old ... among the oldest in the country, in fact.

2. PennDOT is responsible for an enormous network of roads, including many that wouldn’t be under state jurisdiction in most states. The state road system in PA includes a lot of secondary roads and arterials that would be county or local roads in any other state.

3. Harsh weather conditions make road maintenance in Pennsylvania inordinately expensive. There are no towering mountains in PA, but most of the state is comprised of a series of ridges and the Allegheny highlands. Combined with the state’s location in the Northeast in the Great Lakes snow belt, this makes snow plowing a major expense item in the PennDOT budget.

4. Outside the largest metro areas, much of Pennsylvania has been experiencing a long-term decline in population and industry. So even with the highest fuel taxes in the nation, most state roads don’t serve enough users to generate the fuel tax revenue needed to keep the roads in a state of good repair.

26 posted on 02/25/2021 2:58:19 AM PST by Alberta's Child ("And once in a night I dreamed you were there; I canceled my flight from going nowhere.")
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To: Alberta's Child

Its a tax and it will never go away. In fact it will just go higher. People will start avoiding the toll. They will move to the side they work on. House values will change. People will use side routes through neighborhoods to avoid the tolls.

A new bureaucracy will grow up around the tolls. There will be people who live on the toll income. And they will add tolls every time a bridge or a pot hole comes about.

In the end, there will still be more expenses than income. And the tolls will change behavior to the extent that the highway will have less traffic around the tolls. That will cause the tolls to go higher. If you are wealthy or in a hurry, your highway will always be clear. And you will spend money fixing and widening those routes around the tolls. That is my experience in Dallas, Denver, and Chicago.


27 posted on 02/25/2021 4:46:30 AM PST by poinq
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To: disclaimer

I can see that. Xiden’s commie handlers would love to get your EZ-Pass records.


28 posted on 02/25/2021 5:14:46 AM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (GOP-free since 10/9/20)
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To: Shady

That’s kind of sad. I thought New York had the worst roads.


29 posted on 02/25/2021 5:25:39 AM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (GOP-free since 10/9/20)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

they are capturing licence plate numbers, no need for EZ-Pass information - they need to explain away cameras systems to be in use.


30 posted on 02/25/2021 6:47:19 AM PST by disclaimer
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To: Alberta's Child

Its a tax and it will never go away. In fact it will just go higher. People will start avoiding the toll. They will move to the side they work on. House values will change. People will use side routes through neighborhoods to avoid the tolls.

A new bureaucracy will grow up around the tolls. There will be people who live on the toll income. And they will add tolls every time a bridge or a pot hole comes about.

In the end, there will still be more expenses than income. And the tolls will change behavior to the extent that the highway will have less traffic around the tolls. That will cause the tolls to go higher. If you are wealthy or in a hurry, your highway will always be clear. And you will spend money fixing and widening those routes around the tolls. That is my experience in Dallas, Denver, and Chicago.


31 posted on 02/25/2021 1:34:32 PM PST by poinq
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks
The funds collected would be used to pay for the construction, maintenance, and operation of that bridge.

BS, they have gas taxes for roads and bridges and they move that to their welfare accounts and then bond for improvements. Lucy, where's that football.

32 posted on 02/25/2021 1:36:29 PM PST by 1Old Pro
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