Planning group lists objections to I-80 as a toll road

The distribution from I-80 tolls is unfair to Mercer County, a group says.

By MARY GRZEBIENIAK

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

MERCER, Pa. — A local group that oversees spending of federal transportation funds in this area says that making Interstate 80 a toll road will hurt Mercer County.

The Metropolitan Planning Organization also is asking the state to come up with a fairer plan to distribute the funds anticipated from the tolls.

The MPO is a group of local officials that is federally mandated to direct the use of some $70 million to $80 million in federal transportation funds that Mercer County receives every four years. These funds will not be affected by the change.

But at its Aug. 15 quarterly meeting, MPO discussed its concerns with Act 44, which passed in July and will impose tolls on Interstate 80 as well as raise tolls on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in 2009.

The group sent a letter last week outlining its objections to Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation Allen Biehler. The letter states that imposing tolls on I-80 would put Mercer County at an economic disadvantage by driving businesses to locate in areas of the state with no-toll interstates.

It also says that the money distribution plan from the tolls is unfair. Those counties that I-80 runs through would receive only about 18 percent of the funds, with the remaining 72 percent going to other areas of the state.

Mercer’s estimated share of the tolls would be $4 million to $4.8 million. The letter states, however, that vehicles that would take other routes to avoid the toll road would cause additional wear and congestion on other roads that this allocation would not cover.

Dan Gracenin, who is executive director of the Mercer County Regional Planning Commission as well as MPO secretary, said Act 44 is a reality as “a signed piece of legislation,” although some changes may come from local congressional representatives’ lobbying in Washington. In addition, some state legislators are trying to repeal the legislation.

He said that although it is obvious that additional funding is needed for Pennsylvania infrastructure, he is concerned with the details of Act 44 and their effect on the county.

Mercer County commissioners, who sit on the MPO, have publicly voiced their opposition to the tolls.

Gracenin said he expects the matter to be discussed further when the MPO meets Nov. 13, adding that public hearings on the tolls also will be scheduled.