Opponents of I-80 tolls hope hearing helps case

More public hearings will be held throughout the state.

GROVE CITY, Pa. — State lawmakers opposed to putting toll booths on Interstate 80 are hoping a hearing this week will help strengthen their case.

Area business leaders and residents are urged to give testimony Friday before the Pennsylvania House Republican Policy Committee at a hearing set for 11 a.m. at the Grove City Municipal Building.

All testimony will be forwarded to the Federal Highway Commission, which is now considering Pennsylvania’s application to put tolls on I-80 throughout the state.

A nonpartisan coalition of state and federal lawmakers who represent the 311-mile stretch along the I-80 corridor has consistently opposed plans to add toll booths to the road.

The state Legislature passed Act 44 in July as a way to generate nearly a billion dollars for roads, highways, bridges and mass transit. Part of that bill authorized the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission to toll I-80 and use that money to pay back a series of loans.

State Rep. Dick Stevenson of Grove City, R-8th, will chair the hearing.

This is the second GOP Policy Committee hearing on the matter. The first one was in late October in Bloomsburg, Pa., and future hearings are expected but haven’t been scheduled.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com