As the lobbying battle in Washington heats up over a proposal to place tolls on I-80, a leading opponent met yesterday with the head of the federal agency that is considering Pennsylvania’s application.

U.S. Rep. John Peterson (R., Pa.) urged acting Federal Highway Administrator Jim Ray to deny the application. Peterson’s constituents in northwestern Pennsylvania, along the I-80 corridor, fear that tolls would mean economic ruin for the region.

Meanwhile, most of the Philadelphia area’s representatives in Congress are supporting the tolls, in preference to leasing the Pennsylvania Turnpike for $12.8 billion to a Spanish-U.S. consortium, as proposed by Gov. Rendell.

U.S. Reps. Robert A. Brady, Chaka Fattah, Joe Sestak and Allyson Y. Schwartz, all Democrats, signed a letter urging Transportation Secretary Mary Peters to give the state authority to place tolls on I-80.

Brady, a former turnpike commissioner, said yesterday: “I think the lease is a bad idea. The numbers they’re predicting they’ll get from the lease are too high. And I’ve got a major problem with giving one of our major assets to a foreign country. . . . Maybe our governor better take another look at what he’s doing.”
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