toll I-80

US transport secretary Ray LaHood told four members of a Pennsylvania congressional delegation that a US decision on whether I-80 can be tolled will be made "very soon." This is reported today by US Rep Glenn 'GT' Thompson (Repub) from the State College area of central northern part of the state where I-80 is the major east-west artery.

Former US congressman and state senator John Peterson calls the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission a "cauldron of corruption" and the state Senate's "patronage pit" in a column running in state newspapers.

A move to block any new state application to toll PA/I-80 failed this week in the Pennsylvania state house. It voted 106 to 87 not to accept the measure  as an addition to a teenage driver safety bill. Opponents of the move said the effort was unconstitutional in that it changed the intent of the bill. House transportation committee chair Joseph Markosek led opposition to the move.