Posted on 07/03/2007 11:50:08 AM PDT by Kay Ludlow
BELLEFONTE -- One of up to 10 Interstate 80 toll booths would be put up in Centre County near the Clinton County line and another would be located 40 miles to the west in Clearfield County, according to unofficial plans seen by state Sen. Jake Corman, R-Benner Township.
Corman, majority policy chairman of the Senate Republicans, made the disclosure during a news conference Monday where he assailed Gov. Ed Rendell as "irresponsible" for holding the state budget "hostage until he gets everything he wants done."
The senator said the I-80 map he saw is an early draft and could change as the Senate works on the $720 million transportation funding bill sent to it by the House.
Asked whether I-80 tolls are a done deal, Corman said: "It's getting closer; I'm concerned about it, but clearly that is the momentum of the transportation bill."
I-80 runs 311 miles across Pennsylvania between New Jersey and Ohio, and 100 miles of it lie in Centre County and its neighbors to the east and west, Clinton and Clearfield counties.
Corman said the toll rate would be 8 cents a mile, equal to the Pennsylvania Turnpike rate, and said there would be a maximum of 10 toll gantries, according to the early plan with which he is familiar.
He said I-80 commuters from the Lock Haven area who drive 40 miles to work at Penn State would likely opt for the toll-free but narrow two-lane, state Route 64.
"Three dollars a day twice a day -- they're not going to be going on I-80, they're going to be going on 64," Corman said. "That road's not really ready for that. That would probably prevent me from wanting to support the bill because it would have a really negative impact on commuter traffic."
Corman said he voted against I-80 tolls in the Senate appropriations committee. "My biggest issue is where are these gantries going to be, and how is it going to affect commuter traffic," he said.
Asked why the governor's proposal to lease the Pennsylvania Turnpike got nowhere fast, Corman compared Rendell unfavorably to Indiana's Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels, who undertook a similar transportation funding idea but got bids and set forth a detailed plan.
"Our governor says he wants to lease the turnpike. Did we hear anything after that? Did he go out and get anything specific done?" Corman said. "The governor doesn't really want to do any hard work."
On the state budget, Corman opposed Rendell's call for an electricity tax -- "I think people's energy bills are already significantly high" -- but he harshly criticized the governor for conditioning budget approval on legislation that is not urgent, such as the additional transportation funding.
"We need to focus on the budget -- you cannot hold every other issue hostage for the budget," Corman said. "Let's get it done and continue to address the other issues. ... When the governor wants to focus on the budget, we're ready to talk."
We've already paid for I-80 with our taxes, and there's supposed to be funding to maintain it from the gas tax - I think they added 25 cents a gallon the last time prices were low to fund highway maintanence. The toll will be to support public transportation, which isn't used by the people paying the toll. I don't believe there is a public transportation system in the country that is self-supporting, and that should tell us something about the level of demand. The only way to get large numbers of people out of their cars and onto public transportation is to make it free, and this funding won't be enough for that.
I'm trying to figure out how this whole subject went from 'let's lease the turnpike to save on costs', to 'how about a toll on I-80 at either end of the state' to 'I-80 a toll road at the same rate per mile as the turnpike'. I'm glad our state Senator talked to the paper about it, since I didn't hear about this anywhere else.
If, to you, PA is just a chunk of land to get across between NY/NJ and the rest of the country, under this proposal that'll cost you an extra $24 or so in tolls - each way.
Repeal all gas taxes now. The money is being collected and misappropriated if new “taxes” must be levied on roads that have already been built.
And keep an eye out on schemes to privatize toll roads.
$24 each way?
311 miles at 3 cents a mile means $9.33 each way.
Oh, my eyes!
8 cents. Sorry.
Has not Pennsylvania always embezzled and squandered the Hiway funto pay for liberal hogslopping in the cities?
Time to pay the piper with proceeds from the taxes paid by reformed welfare receivers.
WHO, in Gads’ naame would pay to drive on !-80? It is a cowpath, usually snowed over and if that ain’t enough, stay awake to dodge the potholes.
Liberal socialists and their taxation are out of control in this country. Everywhere. They will continue to bilk the public until the public finally says “no more”....
I thought there was a federal regulation about tolling roads? I could be wrong, but something that you can only put a toll on a road if you’re going to use the funds exclusively for that road?
This is what happens when you elect Democrats.
LOL! I see your point, yet inexplicably, most times I drive it there's a lot of traffic. I heard someone say on the radio that around 70% of the traffic is from out of state. No doubt that's one reason the Guv thinks it would be a good idea...
Have you driven it recently?
It has been vastly improved over most of its length.
You had me going back and checking to see if it was my eyes! $9.33 wouldn’t be so unreasonable...
They have said they'd have to get the approval of the federal government because of its interstate status. There may be something saying it has to be used for the highway. If that's what they are told though, creative accounting will take care of that.
Thanks, Kay.
You’re right about the creative part. Remember, Ed Rendell was once chairman of the DNC.
I drive from Danville to Mercer at least once a month and it is a crap road, with traffic, holes and usually road work going on. If I can, I hit the back roads as much as possible.
The Interstate and Defense Highway Act of 1956 forbade putting tolls on interstate highways, period. Older toll roads were grandfathered into the interstate system, but the law stipulated that no federal monies could be used on those roads, only monies generated by the tolls.
The last two highway appropriation laws, however, repealed that provision. States now have the right to put tolls on interstate highways and, in fact, any highway. Thus far, no state has tried it for fear of provoking a political firestorm, but it was just a matter of time before some state tried the provision out.
I thought Washington state would be first, but it appears that Pennsylvania will have that honor.
Alas, I suspect it was my own wishful thinking.
As I read the coverage of this scheme, the tolls wouldn’t begin until 2010, leaving an intervening election season to hold these bastards accountable. The GOP had better make something out of this...something huge.
Rolling over like a sweet gray kitten for Fast Eddie’s caress makes them useless cowards—pussies, even—not leaders.
Publius, thanks for the clarification.
Should from Danville to 1-79 to Mercer.
Not really true, Kay. Gas taxes -- and even other transportation taxes -- don't pay the full cost of highway building and maintenance. Highways are very heavily subsidized, and the subsidies are both overt and covert.
Read TANSTAAFL: A (Semi-)Serious Look at a World Without Transportation Subsidies for a light-hearted analysis at what would happen if we were really serious about "letting the market decide" and eliminating all subsidies.
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