Plan for refurbishing I-79 bridge ‘continues to be evaluated’ according to PennDOT

A plan to refurbish the Interstate 79 bridge at the Bridgeville exchange and widen the lanes of the highway near it “continues to be evaluated,” according to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT).
The bridge was one of nine interstate bridges PennDOT was looking at tolling before the Commonwealth Court ruled in June that charging drivers to cross the spans violated provisions of Act 88, which authorizes public-private partnerships for transportation projects. The court said it violated Act 88 because nearby communities were not consulted before the plan was announced in February 2021. Commonwealth Court rendered the decision after South Fayette and Collier townships, along with Bridgeville borough, filed suit to stop the tolling. PennDOT opted not to appeal.
According to a Thursday news release from PennDOT, the agency is looking at “the path forward” for the I-79 bridge, as well as projects on I-83 in Harrisburg and the I-95 Girard Point Bridge in Philadelphia. PennDOT did say, though, that it was resuming work and federal environmental reviews for six of the other bridge replacement projects, none of which are in the Pittsburgh region. The projects are moving through the federal environmental review process under the National Environmental Policy Act, since tolling is no longer part of the plan.
In July, the General Assembly removed tolling as a way to fund the bridge projects. PennDOT said it will “reallocate” state funds, as well as federal funds available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This means other projects will be deferred or eliminated. The agency says it is continuing to evaluate alternative ways to fund statewide transportation projects through its PennDOT Pathways program.