Scott M. Kozel
2008-07-16 01:16:13 UTC
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20080715_Big_plans_for_rebuilding_I-80.html
"Big plans for rebuilding I-80"
_Philadelphia Inquirer_ - Tue, Jul. 15, 2008
'HARRISBURG - Months before the federal government could approve even a
plan to make I-80 a toll road, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission says
it knows how it would spend part of the money.'
'Within a decade, the commission says, it would resurface more than 200
miles of I-80 across northern Pennsylvania - most of which has not been
fixed in 30 years.'
'Additionally, it would replace 62 bridges along I-80 that officials
believe are in poor condition or are too low, according to a list of
projects unveiled by the commission yesterday.'
'"We're just getting started," Barry J. Schoch, a commission consultant,
said yesterday at a news conference.'
'The annual price tag for the repaving, bridge replacements and other
construction work would be $250 million. It is projected that tolls
would bring the state about $1 billion a year in their first decade.'
'The list comes amid continuing debate in Harrisburg over how to raise
the $620 million needed each year to fund highway projects.'
'Turnpike Commission members favor tolls on I-80, while others,
including Gov. Rendell, are backing a consortium's $12.8 billion bid for
a long-term lease of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.'
'The plan to put 10 tolling stations along the 311-mile stretch of I-80
has raised the ire of businesses and legislators along the corridor.'
'Critics say it would impose an unfair hardship on the trucking industry
and commuters.'
'Soon after the news conference yesterday, Pennsylvania Transportation
Partners, the group that won a bid to lease the turnpike, called the
commission's improvement plans "disingenuous."'
'Such plans are premature, said Jim Courtovich, the group's adviser,
noting that the commission has yet to submit to the federal government
its revised plans for I-80 tolls.'
[end of article]
SMK: Regarding "it would resurface more than 200 miles of I-80
across northern Pennsylvania - most of which has not been fixed in 30
years" --- didn't they claim several years ago that all of the I-80
pavement had been rebuilt in the 1980s and 1990s?
SMK: Regarding "The annual price tag for the repaving, bridge
replacements and other construction work would be $250 million. It is
projected that tolls would bring the state about $1 billion a year in
their first decade" --- as has been discussed here many times, the FHWA
program for tolling a toll-free rural Interstate highway, specifies that
the tolls only be what is needed to support the improvements to the
highway. They are proposing the same statewide "cash cow" I-80 tolling
plan that FHWA rejected last year, so we should anticipate that FHWA
will reject this proposal.
"Big plans for rebuilding I-80"
_Philadelphia Inquirer_ - Tue, Jul. 15, 2008
'HARRISBURG - Months before the federal government could approve even a
plan to make I-80 a toll road, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission says
it knows how it would spend part of the money.'
'Within a decade, the commission says, it would resurface more than 200
miles of I-80 across northern Pennsylvania - most of which has not been
fixed in 30 years.'
'Additionally, it would replace 62 bridges along I-80 that officials
believe are in poor condition or are too low, according to a list of
projects unveiled by the commission yesterday.'
'"We're just getting started," Barry J. Schoch, a commission consultant,
said yesterday at a news conference.'
'The annual price tag for the repaving, bridge replacements and other
construction work would be $250 million. It is projected that tolls
would bring the state about $1 billion a year in their first decade.'
'The list comes amid continuing debate in Harrisburg over how to raise
the $620 million needed each year to fund highway projects.'
'Turnpike Commission members favor tolls on I-80, while others,
including Gov. Rendell, are backing a consortium's $12.8 billion bid for
a long-term lease of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.'
'The plan to put 10 tolling stations along the 311-mile stretch of I-80
has raised the ire of businesses and legislators along the corridor.'
'Critics say it would impose an unfair hardship on the trucking industry
and commuters.'
'Soon after the news conference yesterday, Pennsylvania Transportation
Partners, the group that won a bid to lease the turnpike, called the
commission's improvement plans "disingenuous."'
'Such plans are premature, said Jim Courtovich, the group's adviser,
noting that the commission has yet to submit to the federal government
its revised plans for I-80 tolls.'
[end of article]
SMK: Regarding "it would resurface more than 200 miles of I-80
across northern Pennsylvania - most of which has not been fixed in 30
years" --- didn't they claim several years ago that all of the I-80
pavement had been rebuilt in the 1980s and 1990s?
SMK: Regarding "The annual price tag for the repaving, bridge
replacements and other construction work would be $250 million. It is
projected that tolls would bring the state about $1 billion a year in
their first decade" --- as has been discussed here many times, the FHWA
program for tolling a toll-free rural Interstate highway, specifies that
the tolls only be what is needed to support the improvements to the
highway. They are proposing the same statewide "cash cow" I-80 tolling
plan that FHWA rejected last year, so we should anticipate that FHWA
will reject this proposal.
--
Scott M. Kozel Highway and Transportation History Websites
Virginia/Maryland/Washington, D.C. http://www.roadstothefuture.com
Capital Beltway Projects http://www.capital-beltway.com
Philadelphia and Delaware Valley http://www.pennways.com
Scott M. Kozel Highway and Transportation History Websites
Virginia/Maryland/Washington, D.C. http://www.roadstothefuture.com
Capital Beltway Projects http://www.capital-beltway.com
Philadelphia and Delaware Valley http://www.pennways.com