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.  read more »

Gov. Rendell is expected today to call for repairs on hundreds of aging bridges statewide – including many in the Philadelphia area.

Rendell will also list more than 1,100 bridges that are structurally deficient at an 11 a.m. press conference in Harrisburg.

The bridge repair program would require legislative approval. Last year, the legislature approved a transportation funding bill to provide about $530 million for Pennsylvania bridges and roads.

The state Department of Transportation last year found 6,000 structurally deficient bridges statewide. Of those, 60 heavily traveled bridges were in the Philadelphia region and rated as bad as, or worse than, the condition of the Minnesota bridge that collapsed last August.  read more »

Privatization of toll roads would push truck traffic onto nearby roads, endangering motorists there and hurting the economy by slowing interstate freight movement, according to a new academic study.

The authors of the analysis suggested that higher fuel taxes are better tools to raise money for states’ transportation needs.

The study, presented Monday at the annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board in Washington, comes as Pennsylvania, New Jersey and other states are considering higher road tolls or leasing toll roads to private operators.  read more »