State highway funding is up
WAYNESBSURG – The transportation bill signed last month by Gov. Tom Corbett is expected to generate an additional $2.3 billion a year to help fund improvements to the state’s highways and bridges and mass-transit systems.
The money could not have come at a better time, particularly for rural counties like Greene that will see a decrease in federal transportation money because of federal legislation that went into effect in October, transportation planners said.
Changes in the state and federal funding programs were discussed Thursday at a meeting of local officials sponsored by the county at the Greene County Career and Technology Center.
Joseph Szczur, state Department of Transportation’s District 12 executive director, gave a rundown of the new state legislation, which raises additional revenue by removing the cap on the Oil Company Franchise Tax charged at the wholesale level, while eliminating the 12-cent retail gas tax paid at the pump.
“We don’t have answers to all the questions,” he said, noting detailed plans for how the money will be spent are only now being discussed. “But it is a good news message.”
The cap will be lifted during the next five years and in the fifth year is expected to generate $2.3 billion in additional transportation money.
It is estimated that $1.3 billion will be earmarked for roads and bridges; $480 to $495 million for public transportation, $237 million for local roads and bridges; $86 million for turnpike expansion projects; $144 million for multi-modal funding; and $35 million for dirt, gravel and low-volume road improvements.
Many of the projects the department believes need to be addressed with the funding are documented in the state’s “Decade of Investment” plan that was prepared last year and can be found on the department’s website, Szczur said.
During the last 10 years, PennDOT has focused on repairing its structurally deficient bridges and that will continue with the new funding plan, he said. With limited funding in the past, however, it also has had to scrimp on improvements to roads. “Now we’re going to be able to do things the right way,” he said.
Szczur also spoke about the impact on new federal legislation referred to as MAP-21, which will direct federal highway money to high-priority roads such as interstate highways and higher-volume roads mostly in more urban areas.
Before, federal highway money could be used on numerous roads throughout the county. Under MAP-21, however, only two roads will qualify, Szczur said, Interstate 79 and Route 21 from Waynesburg to Uniontown.
It is projected that 60 to 70 percent of the federal money will have to be spent on roads and highways that make up only 17 to 18 percent of the state’s entire road network, Szczur said.
“This leaves us little to work with from the federal standpoint to apply to the rest of our roadways,” he said. These include the state’s lower-tier roads and local roads that previously were eligible for federal funding.
The change in federal funding has made the state’s passage of a transportation bill even more important, Szczur said. He emphasized to those in attendance that roads in the county not covered by federal money will not be ignored.
“I don’t want anyone walking out of here thinking there’s not going to be any money spent on any of these other roads,” he said. “That’s not the case. We’re just going to have to figure out how to do that.”
Chuck DiPietro, transportation planner for the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, also spoke about the change in federal funding.
“The really good news is the major transportation legislation Pennsylvania has passed. It has so so much in it,” he said. “The concern is whether the federal government is going to keep up and by how much.”
SPC is currently developing the area’s transportation plan for the next four years and is still awaiting information on the federal funding as well as state funding, DiPietro said.
However, DiPietro noted, there will be a problem using federal money on most of the roads throughout Greene County.
“Is there a strategy to fill that problem of not enough money for lower level roads?” he asked. “We’re hoping state money is directed heavily to that.”