HARRISBURG – Senator Wayne Langerholc, Jr. (R-35), chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, is outraged by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s (PennDOT) Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for the Major Bridge Public-Private Transportation Partnership (P3) Initiative.
“We worked through the entire month of June to negotiate the 2021-22 budget with the Wolf Administration, and now we are being blindsided by PennDOT’s knee-jerk announcement to accept bids for tolling existing bridges on the interstate system. The ink is still drying on the budget that allocated $279 million in new spending for projects, and PennDOT’s response is to continue down a dangerous pathway with a haphazard bridge tolling plan for 30 years. The General Assembly has no answers from PennDOT on the size, scope and diversionary impact of this risky P3 bridge tolling scheme. PennDOT’s mentality is to continue spending frivolously and to operate without transparency, public input and legislative oversight. This must end.”
Senator Langerholc held several public hearings and press conferences to call on PennDOT to end the privatization of nine major bridges on the interstate system. The Senate of Pennsylvania passed Senate Bill 382 (Langerholc) to terminate the P3 bridge tolling initiative, which is pending consideration by the House of Representatives.
The DRIVE SMART Act is Senator Langerholc’s short-term and long-term plan to overhaul the Commonwealth’s transportation system by reforming and investing in our roads and bridges, public transportation, airports, passenger rail and active transportation. The comprehensive plan calls for innovative federal financing as a better alternative to PennDOT’s bridge tolling initiative.
CONTACT: Nolan Ritchie, nritchie@pasen.gov