Petition to stop I-79 bridge tolling has more than 8,000 signatures
An online petition to stop the proposed electronic tolling of the bridge on Interstate 79 at the Bridgeville exchange has gathered about 8,500 signatures, according to the Cross Creek Township man who launched it last fall.
Peter Linko, 26, started the petition on Change.org after reading a story in the Observer-Reporter about a plan put forth by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) to place tolls on nine interstate highway bridges in the commonwealth, including the one near Bridgeville. If it is approved, it would be tolled in both the northbound and southbound lanes, and the revenue it generates would be used to rehabilitate the bridge and widen the lanes on I-79 leading up to the bridge.
What drivers would be paying in tolls has not yet been determined, but paying $1 to $2 each way has been mentioned. It would be part of a public-private partnership that PennDOT officials say they must pursue because the commonwealth’s gas tax no longer yields the revenue necessary to cover all the costs of road repair and construction across the commonwealth.
“It’s unthinkable that PennDOT wants to push through with this,” said Linko. “There are people struggling to fill up their gas tanks. They can’t afford a dollar or two of additional tax to go to work every day.”
Since being announced in February 2021, the proposal has been met with a solid wall of opposition. Communities near the bridge say it would inhibit economic growth, hurt small businesses and increase the volume of traffic on their roads. In November, Bridgeville Borough, along with South Fayette and Collier townships, filed a lawsuit in Commonwealth Court to stop the tolling of all the bridges. North Strabane Township has since voted to join the lawsuit. The defendants in the suit are PennDOT, PennDOT secretary Yassmin Gramian and the state’s Public-Private Transportation Partnership Board.
Individuals who signed the petition said they did so because “tolls on 79 will only divert traffic to other areas…,” “We already can barely afford to drive because of gas prices,” and “because we pay taxes for road construction and repairs, we should not be paying tolls.”
A public meeting on the project at the Bridgeville exchange is set for late spring, according to PennDOT spokeswoman Alexis Campbell.