Officials in Shenango Township and West Middlesex are asking voters to approve a merger.

By Jeanne Starmack | September 14, 2008 at 12:00a.m.

SHARON, Pa. — The rejection of a plan for tolling Interstate 80 is nothing but good news, local leaders say.

Some point out, however, the state must now find another way to fund road and bridge projects.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission had proposed that PennDOT turn I-80 over to the commission, which would charge the tolls and use the revenue to make annual lease payments to PennDOT.

PennDOT would have used the money for transportation projects across the state and for mass transit in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

The Federal Highway Administration rejected the proposal Thursday, saying the application didn’t meet legal requirements for the correct use of toll revenue.

The FHA said the amount of a lease payment made with toll money has to be based on an objective market valuation.

The application had no information or data that justified the proposed amount for the annual payment, the FHA said.

The news was met with relief in Mercer County, where business and government leaders had feared toll booths would drive away development, hurt businesses that rely on the highway for shipping, and even put more stress on local roads as drivers dodged the toll booths.

“I think it’s a great day for businesses and residences of the Shenango Valley and Mercer County,” said state Rep. Mark Longietti of Hermitage, D-7th.

He called the plan ill-concieved and said it would have hurt places in the state that were already at an economic disadvantage.

Longietti voted against Act 44, the legislation that included the plan to toll the interstate. It passed last year.

Longietti said that the legislation provides enough money for road and bridge projects through 2010, so the FHA rejection is not causing a funding emergency.

The plan to support mass transit in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia with tolls did not sit well with Longietti, who said the money needs to be earmarked for roads and bridges.

The bus systems should be self-supporting or supported from other provisions in the state budget, agreed Gary Gulla, Hermitage’s assistant city manager and director of community and economic development. U.S. Rep. Phil English of Erie, R-3rd, a staunch opponent of the tolling plan, has long concurred.

“This is a huge victory for rural communities in Pennsylvania and a body blow to Harrisburg’s attempt to turn I-80 into a cash cow for unrelated transportation programs, like mass transit,” English said Friday.

“Tolling I-80 would have been a direct hit to the local economies in western Pennsylvania and would have done nothing more than pit rural regions against urban regions,” he said.

“I now call on Governor [Edward] Rendell and the state Legislature to convene a transportation summit that brings together our federal and state leaders to come up with a real solution for addressing real transportation needs in Pennsylvania,” he said.

In Shenango Township and West Middlesex, officials are proposing a merger to voters this November. Merging governments would save money on services and create a better climate for attracting businesses, officials in favor of it are arguing.

At a public meeting last month to talk about what would happen under such a merger, tolling I-80 was very much on residents’ minds. Several wondered how much business a merger would manage to attract if that happened.

“This is a huge relief for us,” said Shenango supervisors chairman Bob Palko.

He said that now, businesses will go ahead with plans for expansions. Businesses in the area had even been talking about pulling out if the toll booths came, he said.

As far as Sharon Mayor Bob Lucas is concerned, the area has lost enough businesses.

Transportation is a huge issue for businesses in the area, he said. Plants here rely on the interstate to ship to the East Coast.

“We won this battle,” Lucas said. “Now we have to help Pennsylvania come up with another plan.”