Engineers urge bridge, road repairs
Delaware Valley bridges and roads share need and funding shortfalls Harrisburg Looking at a $470 million near-term hole in the state’s transportation budget, Gov. Ed Rendell will convene a special session of the legislature Tuesday. The hole appeared when the federal government, for a third time, turned down state plans to toll Interstate Highway 80. The shortfall impacts all transportation, but bridge safety is getting a lot of attention. A new report card evaluation of state bridges “emphasizes the urgent transportation need,” Transportation Secretary Allen D. Biehler, P.E., said this week. Pennsylvania’s bridges earned a “C” and its roads a “D-” in the American Society of Civil Engineers’ 2010 report card, “Keystone in Crisis,” which was released Monday. View the ASCE report at http://www.pareportcard.org. Closer to home The DOT regional directors for both states painted a dire picture of money woes when the NY-PA Joint Interstate Bridge Commission held its annual meeting on May 12 in Binghamton, N.Y. The commission manages all interstate bridges between Matamoras and Hancock, N.Y. For the first time, the commissioners added a new column to its schedule of proposed and let projects. It was labeled as “unfunded,” red-lined expenditures that lack any previously approved financial commitments and totalled $28,846,000. Things are just as bad in New York. “I’ve been with DOT for 27 years and I’ve never seen it like it is currently,” said Jack Williams, NYS DOT Region 9 director. “Our funding is at 61 percent of where we were in the past. The types of projects on our program amount to maintenance so we can spread our money where we can.” George J. Roberts, district executive with PennDOT District 4-0, based in Dunmore, agreed with his New York counterpart that the funding situation is the worst he’s seen in his 26 years as a PennDOT employee. “We have a major shortfall in dollars. We’re basically trying to figure out how to provide the same level of service with less funding,” Roberts said. “We’re putting 90 percent of our funds into asset management and preservation, Roberts said.” Millions or billions In November 2006, the bipartisan Transportation Funding and Reform Commission estimated the annual transportation funding shortfall, between what was needed and what would be spent, at $1.7 billion. Earlier this month, the Transportation Advisory Committee released its update and found the first-year gap had grown to $3.5 billion. Addressing the special session on May 4, Governor Rendell urged the General Assembly to consider any ideas that would deal with this estimated $3.5 billion first-year gap between available resources and needs to keep the system in a state of good repair with a modest amount for added capacity. Who will pay Without additional resources, PennDOT says it will lose ground on the number of structurally deficient bridges, see pavement conditions deteriorate and have no means to tackle much sought-after capacity projects that would ease congestion and improve regional mobility. The governor could ask for tax increases on gasoline, vehicle registrations, and real estate transfer taxes. A gross profits tax on oil companies or a new leasing plan for the Pennsylvania Turnpike is possible. Money could come from other budgets. Rendell has promised a double-digit basic education aid increase. Delaware Valley officials have budgeted for it, but remain skeptical. But the transportation problem remains. “The ASCE report adds more justification for tackling these issues as soon as possible,” Biehler said. “Waiting for some perceived better time will have tremendous consequences for people across the state and the economy. We simply must come to grips with these significant challenges.” For more about the Pennsylvania transportation funding shortfall, visit: www.FundPaTransportationNow.org.
Bridge and road needs
Pennsylvania leads the nation in the number of structurally deficient bridges, with 5,646, and has more than 7,000 miles of pavement in poor condition.
The state has nearly 40,000 miles of state-maintained highways and 25,000 state-maintained bridges.