i-80 pennsylvania turnpike

The Penn Pike Commission has deferred the response date on their request for concepts/solutions on the completion of the Mon Fayette Expressway and Southern Beltway to Jan 15 2009. Questions will be accepted to Dec 17.

The Commission says it is trying to find investors who can make viable projects out of three remaining segments it cannot fund by traditional public sector toll financing or tax-based grants.

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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."

The US House of Representatives has passed a vote against tolling I-80 as proposed by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and the state legislature in its recent state HB1590 legislation. The vote in the US Congress was on an amendment to the annual transportation appropriations bill (HB3074) and it states "None of the funds made available under this Act may be used to establish or collect tolls on Interstate 80 in the Commonwealth (state) of Pennsylvania."