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Rendell warns lawmakers to act on transportation

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Gov. Ed Rendell warned state lawmakers Tuesday of disaster if they fail to dedicate additional dollars for Pennsylvania's highways, bridges and mass transit agencies by the end of the year.

Rendell outlined alternatives he said would help plug a hole in state transportation funding that was partly caused by federal regulators' decision last month to reject a plan to toll Interstate 80.

He said lawmakers could adopt a short-term fix or find the billions it will take to fully repair and maintain the state's transportation infrastructure for decades to come. He called inaction "unacceptable to me and a disaster for our state."

"It would cripple our transportation network, making us less competitive, diminish the quality of life of our citizens and imperil public safety," he said.

Rendell said lawmakers could explore public-private partnerships, renew efforts to toll existing interstates, raise gas taxes or motorists' fees or get tougher on reckless or uninsured drivers.

He said the state has 7,000 miles of roads in poor condition and more than 5,600 structurally deficient bridges.

"You know the conditions are bad in your area," he said. "You know that our mass transit systems need repairs and new fleets. You know this and so do your constituents."

His speech ushered in a special session on transportation that will unfold in the coming months, while Rendell and legislative leaders will be engaged in state budget negotiations made more difficult because state tax collections have continued to be anemic.

The floor leader of the state Senate's Republican majority said completing a state budget was his top priority, and said the first step toward dealing with transportation funding should be gaining a better understanding of why the I-80 tolling application was rejected.

Federal regulators said the I-80 plan was unacceptable because it diverted revenues from the tolls for purposes other than the operation and maintenance of the 311-mile interstate that spans Pennsylvania from New Jersey to Ohio.

"I thought that was the most appropriate road in Pennsylvania to add tolls to," said Sen. Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware. "And I'm open to conversations about other roads that may not be as clearly suitable as Interstate 80, yet suitable."

Rendell, who leaves office in January, told reporters the need to act was urgent because the next governor may be opposed to raising additional taxes and will face other pressing financial problems in their first year.

"You're going to lay this on the next governor's table when they're also going to be confronting a minimum $2.5 billion operating budget deficit?" Rendell said. "It's not fair. We should take care of this now."

Pileggi said maintaining and expanding the state's transportation infrastructure was a widely shared goal, not limited to the Rendell administration, and expressed skepticism about a need to strike a deal this year.

"We've asked the governor about that, whether there's some situation that we're not aware of where trains are going to stop running in their tracks or highway or bridge construction that's under way will stop in mid-project," Pileggi said. "As far as I can tell there is no such time-sensitive occurrence that will happen without the General Assembly taking action within the next two to three months."

The Federal Highway Administration's rejection of I-80 tolls eliminated about $500 million in annual revenue that had been a critical element in paying for the state's transportation needs. Rendell said he would sign any "effective alternative" that at least restores what the tolls would have generated for the coming two years.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation says about a fifth of the state's highway miles — and a similar portion of its bridges — are in poor condition. It calculates the total backlog of maintenance needs at about $14 billion, or roughly half the state's annual general fund budget.

The state Transportation Advisory Committee said Monday that Pennsylvania should increase spending by about $3.5 billion annually, saying the size and age of its infrastructure presented particular challenges. The committee's report warned the backlog of important projects was hampering the state's economy.

Kevin Jones of The Trucker staff can be reached for comment at [email protected] .

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