PennDOT Sec: Gas Tax Hike Not Being Considered

The head of a panel designed to find ways to fund repairs to the state's roads and bridges says tolling could be the most reliable way to go.
PennDOT's Transportation Funding Advisory Commission will hear a presentation Monday on the possibility of tolling Route 422 in Montgomery, Chester and Berks Counties.
The 30-member commission set up by Governor Tom Corbett looks for ways to pay for transportation improvements across the state.
PennDOT Secretary Barry Schoch says tolling would provide a steady stream of income, but can't be used on many busy highways...

“Tolling certainly is mileage-based. It doesn't matter whether your car is electric, fuel cell, or gasoline or diesel. It all gets charged the same way. So that's a possibility in the future, but there are federal laws that restrict that, especially on our interstate systems, so unless they change that won't be a part of the immediate future.”

Schoch says the commission is examining tolls because other sources of funding, like gas taxes, are shrinking...

“If you owned a car in the 1970s chances are it got less than 15 miles-per-gallon. Today you probably get around 30 miles-per-gallon. So, you travel the same amount of miles per year, but you buy half as much gas as you did back in the 70s, and that's a large chunk of how we get our revenue to build the roads and bridges.”

Shoch says the commission is looking for plans that will generate two-and-a-half million dollars in recurring revenue over four or five years. He says the commission has been instructed not to look at increasing the gas tax. But if nothing is done to find more money, he says the department may have to close bridges and roadways as they fall into serious disrepair

More Construction Restrictions on Route 28

Northbound Route 28 will be closed between the 31st Street Bridge and the 40th Street Bridge this weekend as construction and preparation begins for long-term work on the 31st Street Bridge.

Route 28 will be closed at 8 p.m. Friday, March 18 and will reopen at 11 a.m. Sunday, March 20. Following the reopening of Route 28, the intersection of the roadway and the 31st Street Bridge will close for long-term improvements planned to be finished next spring.

PennDOT spokesman Jim Struzzi says a detour will be posted but it will be helpful for drivers to find a different route to avoid congestion.

“We do encourage motorists, local traffic people who may know other ways to find alternate routes because there are easier ways to go. Particularly if you are leaving the city area, you can continue out Liberty Avenue rather than actually getting onto Route 28,” Struzzi says. “It’s going to be a little transition for people once the bridge closes but in the long run it’ll be better for everyone.”

The intersection will be closed as crews construct retaining walls for a new interchange with Route 28, part of a $22 million project. Other aspects of the project include upgraded drainage, signals, utility and railroad track relocation.

Struzzi says the bridge will still be accessible for those who need it.

“Roughly about 6,000 vehicles use the 31st Street Bridge on an average day. It’s important to note that motorists coming from Lawrenceville will still be able to cross the bridge and access River Avenue down to the Herr’s Island area and Washington’s Landing,” Struzzi says. “It’s important to note that for people who do work on Herr’s Island.”

Call PennDOT to Fix Potholes

As warmer spring air fights its way through only to be pushed back by another harsh Pittsburgh winter, the water that seeps through roadway pavement unfreezes and refreezes causing the potholes that dot much of Southwestern Pennsylvania's roads.

PennDOT provides a telephone number, which the public can call to have potholes on state roads fixed in a timely manner. By calling 1-800-349-7623 and identifying the location of the pothole using landmarks and the state road number, residents can help PennDOT find potholes that inevitably occur during the changing of the seasons.

“We’ve actually had the 1-800-FIX-ROAD line for probably 15 years now and it’s not really a hotline, it’s actually open year-round and motorists can report any highway maintenance concern on state roads,” PennDOT spokesman Steve Chizmar says.

According to Chizmar, snow removal and road treatments are top priority for the department but potholes will be taken care of as quickly as possible. Callers should be able to identify the county, the municipality, the street name and the state route number along with any landmarks located near the pothole. While PennDOT only fixes state roads marked by small white “state route” signs, Chizmar says if there is a pothole on a local non-state road, the local municipality should be informed.

“[The number] gets an awful lot of use, there is an average of about 40,00 calls every year,” Chizmar says. “It’s actually a maintenance hotline number and motorists can report everything from potholes, to dead deer, to shoulder drop-offs, any type of highway maintenance concern.”

The city of Pittsburgh has launched its own war on potholes. Public Works Director Rob Kaczorowski is asking residents to report potholes online, or by calling the Mayor’s 311 hotline. (Non City-residents can report potholes to 311 by dialing 412-255-CITY.) Kaczorowski says crews hope to respond to calls within 72 hours and pledge to have them filled within five days.

Crews will be out on two 8-hour shifts working on the potholes whenever they are not dealing with ice and snow. "Our crews are committed to battling Pittsburgh's potholes," says Kaczorowski. The mayor’s office says since the beginning of the year the city has responded to 234 pothole calls.

Township Leaders Want Tax Payments Early

A league of Pennsylvania municipalities is urging Governor Tom Corbett to distribute fuel tax funds early so they can repair winter road damage.

The Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors wants about $300 million in fuel tax revenue issued about two months earlier than its regular April 1 release.

The PSATS says this “unusually harsh winter” has made local roads unsafe for motorists.

But Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spokesman Rich Kirkpatrick says there might be drawbacks to releasing the funds early.

“It’s a matter of following what is provided for in state law,” says Kirkpatrick. “Currently, those payments are supposed to go April 1. Any deviation from that gets into a number of legal and technical issues that Governor Corbett’s administration is reviewing at this point.”

The association’s executive director David Sanko says if the state doesn’t release the money early, many local governments will have to borrow money and thus pay interest.

The fuel tax revenue was distributed early last year after former Governor Ed Rendell declared a state of emergency.

Major Road Construction in 2011...After That...?????

Stretches of Route 28, Route 65, the Parkway East and the Crosstown Boulevard face major construction and rehabilitation work during 2011.
PennDOT spokesman Jim Struzzi says the "big one" is Route 28 with work to continue between the 31st Street Bridge and 40th Street Bridge as crews widen the roadway to add southbound bypass lanes to the 40th Street Bridge interchange...
"The next phase of the project, the large scale widening, from the Heinz Plant out to the 31st Street Bridge where it will connect with the project currently underway will start this summer as well."

Because of that, there will be a single lane northbound on parts of 28 between the city's North Side and Millvale until 2014 when the project is completed.
Struzzi says motorists have to understand that this is a major construction project and there's not a lot of room to do the work that needs to be done without impacting traffic but "when it's done, there will be free-flowing traffic through that corridor and there will be a dramatic improvement."

Struzzi says the $17 million rehabilitation of the Boston Bridge on Route 48 in Elizabeth Township will get into full swing in 2011 with some northbound lane closures of the bridge overnight and some weekends. He says this will be a good year to reduce the number of structurally-deficient bridges in the Pittsburgh area.

In addition, PennDOT will do a $14 million rehabilitation of the Crosstown Boulevard (I-579) to the Veterans' Bridge which will involve lane and ramp closures.
Struzzi says the 5 year rehabilitation of ramps and bridges on the Parkway East (I-376) between the Squirrel Hill Tunnels and the Pennsylvania Turnpike will wrap up during this next construction season.
Also, work will continue on the Route 65/Marshall Avenue interchange on Pittsburgh's North Side and there will be a new project in the North Hills, the Wexford Flats, on Route 19 near North Allegheny High School to widen and add turning lanes along the corridor..."If anyone travels that, you know it's very difficult to make left hand turns into any of the businesses up there."
Struzzi says motorists will see a lot of construction in 2011 because those projects are already funded, but the big impact of the transportation funding crisis will come in 2012....
"We're simply not designing projects for the future because we don't have the money to fund the design. A lot of people will scratch their heads when they hear about the funding crisis because they see all the improvements that we are making. But these improvements were planned a few years ago. The true dilemma is there is no plan for the future because there is no money to pay for it."

PA Bridge Repairs Ahead of Schedule

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has exceeded its goal for repairing bridges over the past three years, but funding uncertainty could slow down the agency in the years to come.

PennDOT has repaired more than 1500 bridges since the start of the Accelerated Bridge Program in 2008, exceeding its expectations by about 450.

PennDOT spokesman Rich Kirkpatrick says in 2010, the agency awarded 611 bridge contracts totaling $900 million. He says that reduced the total number of needy bridges from the 2008 high of 6,034 to almost 5,400 now.

But Kirkpatrick says despite reversing the growth of ‘structurally deficient’ bridges in the state, PennDOT still has plenty of work to do. And he says that won’t be easy, given the murky outlook for PennDOT funding.

“The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds provided an extra boost of over a billion dollars for the state highway and bridge network, and that money is running out,” says Kirkpatrick.

The state’s Transportation Advisory Committee says the state is underfunding its transportation system by about $3.5 billion each year.

The PennDOT spokesman says the vast majority of ‘structurally deficient’ bridges are not unsafe, but he says PennDOT studies each bridge to determine which ones need repairs most urgently.

PennDOT Limits Marcellus Shale Trucks

Trucks operated by Marcellus Shale drilling companies are being regulated to offset the cost of damage to local roads. PennDOT is placing weight limits on state roads frequently used by drilling companies, and those who continue using the roads are forced to apply for permits and bonds through PennDOT. Rich Kirkpatrick, spokesman for PennDOT, says the regulation will make the gas companies pay for the costs of damage to the roads rather than local taxpayers.

Drilling companies using the roads have to apply for a permit that will include an excess maintenance agreement, which makes them responsible for repairing the roads. They will also have to apply for a bond which will act as insurance to PennDOT if the company were to go out of business.

Kirkpatrick, also says that some local commercial drivers are having troubles with the regulations because there is currently no rule separating them from drilling company vehicles. "With all of the local roads being posted its been somewhat of a hardship for them. Some of them have been complaining, there have been some news reports about it. We have been working on changing our regulations to accommodate those local delivery situations."

He says that new permits for local drivers will be available in 30 days but if drivers have any trouble now they can go to their local PennDOT office and work out an arrangement.

Change in Gender ID Policy

PennDOT has changed its policy on how transgender people identify themselves on their driver's licenses. Transportation Department spokesman Craig Yetter says the agency and Equality Pennsylvania reached an agreement...
"Equality advocates approached the department and brought the policy change for passports to our attention and let us know there were 26 other states and the District of Columbia that had similar policies in place and then PennDOT took action to change the policy."
The U.S. Department of State in June implemented a change in policy regarding the gender markings on passports.
Under PennDOT's old policy, to change the gender on their licenses or state ID cards, people had to prove they had sexual reassignment surgery. The new policy that is effective immediately doesn't require proof of surgery. It does allow a change in gender on the licenses if people are living full-time in the new gender and it is verified by a licensed medical or psychological caregiver or social worker "whose practice includes helping people with gender identity issues."
Yetter says that can be done online at Department of Motor Vehicles website.

Controversial Legislative Office Downsized

A special report issued in May by the Grand Jury investigating public corruption in the state legislature detailed how 34 legislative staffers and 35 PennDOT workers spend all their time processing vehicle registration, license renewals and other paperwork for constituents. The jurors argued lawmakers only filed the paperwork to score points with voters. The report prompted Governor Rendell to launch an effort to shut down the PennDOT office. However, the practice remained open, after House Speaker Keith McCall defended it as a valuable constituent service. This week a compromise was reached to scale back the office but leave it otherwise intact. PennDOT will continue to accept individual constituents’ paperwork from lawmakers’ offices, but as McCall’s Chief of Staff Paul Parsells says things are different in rural counties compared to more urban settings and this is a service that makes sense, “If you live in Harrisburg you can get in your car, go right downtown to the riverfront office center, process your paperwork. You can take a publicly funded transit bus down there if you want. In rural Pennsylvania you can’t do that. And many of our members really serve as the front door to state government.” Under the new agreement legislators will not pass along documents from car dealerships or other businesses that already charge fees to their customers. “They estimated it to be approximately 60 percent of the work. And after we evaluated the work we think that might be in the right ballpark. It was a significant amount of work, and it’s work we really didn’t need to be doing,” says Parsells. The PennDOT workers will be reassigned to other departments, but Parcells says the legislative processing offices will stay open. He notes that the office does more than just handle PennDOT work. “This is just one example of the work our legislators do every day. We serve as intermediaries with the Department of Welfare, with the Attorney General, Office of Consumer Advocate, with Treasury. With any agency of the state.” Transportation Secretary Allen Biehler says the change will save a million dollars a year.

Penn Hills Parkway Exit to Close for 2 Weeks

Construction crews will close the Penn Hills exit of the Parkway East outbound next Monday for drainage work and concrete replacement.

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spokesman Jim Struzzi says the closure will begin at 7:00 a.m. and continue around the clock until August 31.

Struzzi says he anticipates some traffic congestion because of the closure.

“I’m sure there will be some motorists who are using the alternate routes and detour routes that could cause some increases in traffic, particularly on Business Route 22 at the Rodi Road intersection, because that’s what we foresee as most people using as a detour.”

That detour would have drivers exit at Business Route 22 / Monroeville and take a left at Rodi Road, which is the first intersection they would reach. Struzzi says Rodi Road would take drivers to the same place that the Penn Hills off-ramp reaches.

Struzzi says if motorists miss that exit, they’ll have to exit at Plum / Monroeville near the Pennsylvania Turnpike and take Business Route 22 in the opposite direction until they reach Rodi Road, at which point they would turn right.

Route 28 will get worse before it gets better

A project that will make changes to Route 28 between Millvale and the city of Pittsburgh will start next month and will not be completed until 2014.

For most of the time, outbound traffic will be one lane, with two lanes kept open inbound.

When its over, traffic will flow through new interchanges at the 31st and 40th street bridges, with no traffic signals on the highway mainline. The inbound and outbound sides will be separated by barriers and not yellow lines in an effort to cut down on head on collisions.

The 31st Street Bridge and Rialto Street will be closed for nearly three years.

The presentation from the public meeting for the Route 28 East Ohio Street Improvement Project including renderings of the completed project and the tentative schedule is now available. Click here to download

PennDOT to Revamp 31st Street Bridge

The Route 28 on-ramp to the 31st Street Bridge will close for almost a month beginning Tuesday. Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spokesman Jim Struzzi says crews will remove the old bridge pier and construct a new one to accommodate the widening of Route 28.

Struzzi says the traffic signals at Route 28 and the bridge will be adjusted. “We will see some improved traffic flow on Route 28 through that intersection."

He says the main portion of the bridge will remain open, so people coming across the river from Lawrenceville will be able to get ashore via River Avenue. He says PennDOT will arrange for detours to the 16th Street and 40th Street Bridges. The closure is set to end by August 5. The overall $22 million Route 28 widening project is scheduled to be completed in the spring of 2012.

PennDOT to Raise the Roof in Squirrel Hill Tunnel

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation plans to rehabilitate the Squirrel Hill Tunnel starting in 2012 in a three-year project costing about $55 million.

PennDOT spokesman Jim Struzzi says new lighting and a new ventilation system will be installed at night and on the weekends.

Struzzi says crews will also work on the tunnel’s ceiling.

“A drop-down ceiling was put in to hide the ventilation systems that are above the travel lanes. Those are necessary to keep the fumes from the vehicles traveling through the tunnels pumped out of the tunnel,” says Struzzi. “In looking at this rehabilitation project, we felt that we could put in new ventilation systems that would allow us to remove that drop ceiling.”

Struzzi says removing the drop ceiling will reveal the tunnel’s true arched ceiling, much like that of the Liberty Tunnel. The PennDOT spokesman says that measure would raise the roof of the tunnel by about a foot and would probably ease some people’s claustrophobia. Struzzi says he hopes that means less people braking before the tunnel and less congestion leading up to the tubes.

The higher ceiling may also reduce instances of over-height trucks stopping in front of the tunnel and backing up traffic.

PA Bicycle Deaths Double from '08 to '09

16 bicyclists were killed in Pennsylvania last year, doubling the 2008 death count, says the state Department of Transportation.

“While that number may seem low to many people, that’s still 16 people that had their lives cut short,” says PennDOT spokeswoman Alison Wenger.

Wenger says by abiding by some safety tips, Pennsylvanians can hopefully reduce bicycle fatalities.

For Motorists:
• Give bicyclists space, even when there is no bike lane.
• Remember that bicycles have an equal right to the roadway as motor vehicles.
• Be cautious when passing bicyclists, as they may turn unexpectedly.

For Bicyclists:
• Equip your bike with reflectors and a horn to help motorists be aware of you.
• Follow the same traffic laws as motorists.
• Stay on the right side of the road, riding with traffic.

More information can be found at www.drivesafepa.org.