Penn Gov Rendell says will fight for right to toll I-80 but is reviving concession just in case

Governor Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania says he'll work against moves in the US Congress to block the state's plans to toll I-80. But as a contingency he's restarting the process to get private sector bids for a longterm lease concession on the Turnpike mainline.

What the state needs from Washington, Rendell said, is "real help for our roads, not more roadblocks that would stand in the way of innovative solutions."

In a press statement the governor said of the US Congress measure to block tolling I-80: "We'll work as hard as we can to present the facts to Congress in an effort to remove this harmful and shortsighted amendment from the final appropriations bill."

He said the move by the Republican congressmen from central and northwestern Pennsylvania could jeopardize $3b in funding and he defended the details of the I-80 tolling plan saying it will "minimize the impact on local residents while asking thousands of out-of-state cars and large trucks that use our roads  and bridges to contribute a fair share of the cost..."

"Our transportation needs are too critical and important to be left in flux," Governor Rendell added.

"If this amendment becomes law it will cut transportation funding statewide and so we must immediately begin contingency planning.  Accordingly, I have little choice but to restart the process to establish procedures for receiving bids for a long-term lease of the Pennsylvania Turnpike."

Morgan Stanley analysts working for the Rendell Administration estimated that Pennsylvania could receive up to $1.75 billion per year in transportation funding through a longterm lease of the Turnpike system but the state's Turnpike Commission mobilized legislators in both parties to block that.
 
Governor Rendell's original proposal did not include imposing tolls on I-80, contrary to claims by the I-80 US congressmen.

Rendell also said that he would have rejected any increase in gas taxes paid if that had been proposed.

The Governor's preferred option was to "monetize the value of the Pennsylvania Turnpike" and impose a "fair" tax on the profits of oil companies, his statement said.

Only the collapse of the present I-80 toll plan seems likely to produce a re-examination of a toll concession of the Mainline by the legislature, which would again be fought tooth and nail by the Turnpike Commission.

TOLLROADSnews 2007-07-26