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Lawmakers worry tolls will increase I-81 traffic
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Trucks clog early morning traffic on Interstate 81. (Jason Malmont/The Sentinel)
Cumberland County state lawmakers say they are concerned that a plan to toll Interstate 80 might divert more tractor-trailers to Interstate 81 and exacerbate the highway’s already troublesome traffic and air pollution problems.
Turnpike Commission officials, however, say they are working to make sure placing tolls along I-80 diverts as little traffic as possible and that the state needs to generate money to fix its aging infrastructure somehow.
But the criticism adds to the chorus of complaints about the tolls, which are central to a transportation funding plan approved by the state Legislature this summer.
Lawmakers and citizens along I-80 in the northern part of the state say the plan was hurried through without enough time for inspection, depends too much on borrowing and gives too much money to mass transit agencies such as Philadelphia-based SEPTA.
They say the plan would hurt their economy because tractor-trailers, which many communities depend on, would be diverted to non-tolled roads.
Pollution concerns
But the potential for diverting tractor-trailers also concerns Rep. Will Gabig, R-199, who says the heavy rigs might chose to travel on I-81 instead.
“If you’re going to toll Interstate 80, that’s going to divert traffic, and where is it going to go?” Gabig says. “To me, that’s fairly obvious.
“I got enough trucks in my area. I don’t need anymore,” he adds.
More truck traffic would further pollute the area’s already dirty air, he says.
Cumberland County has the 17th worst air quality of any county in the country, according to a survey by the American Heart and Lung associations.
Gabig has asked Gov. Ed Rendell to commission an environmental impact study to determine the effect tolling I-80 might have on air quality.
However, Chuck Ardo, spokesman for Rendell, says the governor does not plan to conduct such a study.
Other area lawmakers echo Gabig’s concerns.
State Sen. Patricia Vance, R-31, says the adverse impact on the county’s air quality would be another side effect of a poorly conceived plan, which she opposed from its inception.
State Rep. Glen Grell, R-87, says much of the debate over the tolls focuses on their impact on the state’s northern tier. But Grell says he is also concerned about any increase in truck traffic along I-81.
“Interstate 81 already has plenty of trucks ... the last thing we need is more,” he says.
Minimize impact
But Turnpike Commission spokesman Carl DeFebo says its objective is to keep traffic on I-80, even with the tolls.
To help meet the objective, it will use a tolling system that charges vehicles while on the 311-mile highway instead of when they exit, he explains.
“(Traffic diverting to I-81) could happen, but our objective is to minimize that,” he says.
Ardo says he doesn’t think trucks would divert.
“There is little evidence that truckers would be tempted to avoid the tolls and spend more on fuel by going miles out of their way,” he says.
The commission is also studying how the tolls would affect the environment, DeFebo says, although that study isn’t likely to include Cumberland County unless Rendell requests that it be expanded.
Need the money
The revenue from the tolls, DeFebo says, would help maintain the state’s aging array of highways and bridges.
Tolling I-80 is expected to generate between $80 billion and $115 billion dollars for the state over the next 50 years, or between $1.67 billion and $2.32 billion a year, DeFebo says.
A study of the state’s infrastructure released last November recommended the state begin spending $1.7 billion a year on its infrastructure, he says.
Tolling I-80 is still not guaranteed to happen. The Federal Highway Administration still needs to approve the plan, and there is a bill in the state Legislature to repeal the transportation bill.
Rendell has said he prefers to lease the Turnpike, even accepting bids this fall as the tolling plan moves forward.
Last week, U.S. House Democrats blocked attempts by congressmen John Peterson and Phil English, both northwest Pennsylvania Republicans, to prevent I-80 tolling at the federal level.
