PennDOT is doubling down on their plan to toll nine bridges, including one in Bridgeville.
At a budget hearing in front of the state Senate Appropriations committee Thursday afternoon, PennDOT Secretary Yassmin Gramian said they are open to alternatives to the bridge tolling plan, but haven't seen one that makes sense.
She said the bridges in the plan need attention.
"We're very concerned, that's why we're pushing this program. We have to fund it. We have to address it. Some of them, such as the South bridges, are coming to the end of their life expectancy."
Among the nine bridges, the one on I-79 near Bridgeville.
Gramian warned a lack of funding could mean they are forced to close some of the bridges, or post weight restrictions on them.
At a budget hearing in Harrisburg, she used a bridge in Arkansas as a cautionary tale. It was closed for nearly four months for repairs.
"During that period, a lot of the businesses in the communities around that bridge lost a lot of revenue," Gramian said.
Opposition to the plan is still mounting, including a lawsuit filed by three South Hills communities, trying to stop tolling of the local I-79 bridge.
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