PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A plan to toll several bridges across Pennsylvania, including one on I-95 in Philadelphia, has officially been put to bed by both a court ruling and new law signed by the governor.
The plan was to toll nine bridges across Pennsylvania, including the Girard Point Bridge, which carries I-95 over the Schuylkill River in South Philadelphia, to help pay for needed repairs.
Western Pennsylvania Sen. Wayne Langerholc said there was no advertisement of a public meeting, and the only information that was put out made reference to “user fees,” not tolls. It also did not list which bridges would be involved.
On June 30, Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruled PennDOT and its Public-Private Transportation Partnership (P3) Board didn’t do their homework in coming up with the plan. About a week later, the state Legislature passed legislation that would put limits on the P3 board.
“This bill will create a checks and balance by reducing the scope of PennDOT’s power to optional user fees for new infrastructure and ensuring the General Assembly has more time to assess any transportation projects passed by the P3 board,” said Langerholc, who chairs the Senate Transportation Committee.
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Initially, Langerholc’s bill had passed on party lines, but the governor said he planned to veto it. However, after more than a year, the two sides reached an agreement.
The bill passed the Senate 50-0 and the House 176-24. Gov. Tom Wolf signed it shortly thereafter.
While the tolling plan is scrapped, Langerholc said any plans that have been drawn up to make repairs to the bridges will be kept to save money down the road.
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