Financing For Pennsylvania Turnpike/I-95 Connector Concerns Auditor General

Map of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States with township and municipal boundaries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said Friday that an unusual plan to finance construction of the I-95/Pennsylvania Turnpike connection “raises alarms” and may prompt an investigation by his office.

DePasquale said he was especially interested in why an entity was created to broker the deal, in which wealthy foreign investors would lend the turnpike $200 million in exchange for possible permanent residence in the United States.

DePasquale said his office was legally bound to wait until a transaction is completed before launching an audit, so “it may be several months or longer” before he formally investigates the turnpike plan.

“I am going to follow this situation carefully,” DePasquale said.  ”It raises some alarms.  I’m not taking a position that it’s wrong yet. . . . We’ll wait till the issue is ripe for an audit.”

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/business/transportation/20130511_Financing_for_turnpike_I-95_connector_concerns_auditor_general.html#KbbfJ65OCH8owKzj.99

GOP Signals Cost Cuts Before Pennsylvania Driver Tax Boost

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Editor’s note:  I bet there are all kinds of cost cutting measures that could be utilized before screwing over the taxpayers!

HARRISBURG – Conservative state lawmakers who are wary about plans to raise taxes or fees to boost transportation spending raised the prospect Wednesday that they will insist first on major changes, such as abolishing the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, to make public money go further.

The House Republican majority will be under pressure in the 10 weeks before the Legislature departs Harrisburg for the summer to make the case against a massive transportation funding plan.  Supporting such plans are leading senators from both political parties, Republican Gov. Tom Corbett and a slew of groups from the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry to the AARP.

Even one member of the House Republican leadership acknowledged that there is tremendous pressure on the issue.

“I don’t think we thought there was going to be this much momentum for transportation,” said Rep. Mike Vereb, R-Montgomery, the caucus secretary.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=470679

Pennsylvania Senate Highways Plan Would Raise Gas Prices

Editor’s note:  Really!  Because gas prices aren’t high enough already???

HARRISBURG – Spending on Pennsylvania’s highways, bridges and mass transit systems would get a big shot of new funding under a Senate plan unveiled Tuesday that would raise the money by increasing motorist fees and wholesale gas taxes – bumping prices at the pump as much a quarter a gallon.

The $2.5 billion plan by Senate Transportation Committee Chairman John Rafferty, R-Montgomery, is more ambitious and expensive than the proposal Gov. Tom Corbett advanced in January. The increase is nearly 50 percent of the $5.3 billion that the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation currently spends on highways, bridges and transit.

Rafferty warned that the state’s bridges and highways are in dire need of repair, and contended that the plan would simply update taxes and fees to reflect inflation after going unchanged since at least the 1990s while giving the state’s economy a big boost.

“This is a sustainable funding plan,” Rafferty told reporters at a news conference where he was backed by dozens of supportive lawmakers and representatives of transportation-minded groups. “This is not a one-shot deal. This is a significant piece of change that will move Pennsylvania forward.”

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=470435

New Pennsylvania Turnpike Head Says He’s Ready To Face Down Corruption

Pennsylvania Turnpike/Interstate 95 Interchange Project (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

HARRISBURG – The new chief executive of the troubled Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission says he’s glad a scathing grand jury report is finally out, despite its damning allegations of political corruption and influence-peddling within the agency.

“We all knew it was coming, so there is limited relief that it’s here,” Mark P. Compton said in his office overlooking the toll road, outside Harrisburg.  ”Now we can deal with it.”

Supplied with the 85-page report, state Attorney General Kathleen Kane earlier this month filed criminal charges against eight men, including former State Sen. Robert Mellow (D., Lackawanna) and one of Compton’s predecessors, former Turnpike chief executive Joseph Brimmeier.

The grand jury said top turnpike officials solicited contractors for campaign contributions to favored politicians, including then-Gov. Ed Rendell, and took gifts of international travel, sports events, and lavish meals.  In return, the contributors’ companies received multimillion-dollar contracts, even when other bidders were less expensive and more qualified, the report said.

Read more:

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/state/20130401_New_Pa__Turnpike_head_says_he_s_ready_to_face_down_corruption.html

Free Wi-Fi Now Available At All Pennsylvania Turnpike Service Plazas

Pennsylvania Turnpike/Interstate 95 Interchange Project (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Free Wi-Fi service is now available at all Pennsylvania Turnpike operational service plazas, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission announced Friday in a news release.

Customers can access free Wi-Fi at the 15 operating service plazas.  Wi-Fi will be available at the two plazas closed for construction, South Midway in Bedford County and Highspire in Dauphin County, when they reopen in May, according to the release.

Read more:  http://www.ydr.com/local/ci_22619793/free-wi-fi-now-available-at-all-pennsylvania

Pa. Turnpike Approves Toll Hike

 

Pennsylvania Turnpike/Interstate 95 Interchange Project (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

HARRISBURG, PA – The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission has approved a toll hike for next year.

The commission says the increase means rates will be going up 10 percent for cash-paying customers and 2-percent for those who pay with E-ZPass. The agency says the hike will result in a toll-revenue growth of 3 percent.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=401999

Pennsylvania Turnpike Closed Between Harrisburg East And Reading Interchanges

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The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission has closed a 39-mile section of the toll road due to a bridge in Dauphin County being threatened by rising flood waters from the Swatara Creek.

To find out the suggested detour routes, click here: http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/09/pennsylvania_turnpike_closes_a.html

Pennsylvania Turnpike Tolls To Increase Again In 2012

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Yes, you read that correctly.   The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is raising tolls 10 percent for cash paying customers in 2012.  The increase does not apply to E-Zpass customers.  Tolls increased in 2011 as well, 10 percent for cash payers and 3 percent for E-Zpass users.

This is the Turnpike Commissions way of gently urging everyone to use E-Zpass…

Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission – Stupid Is As Stupid Does

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This is JUST unbelievable.  In an effort to “save money” our illustrious PA Turnpike Commission has voted to not print toll prices on tickets.  So starting next month, you won’t have any idea how much the tolls are unless you have them memorized!

Say you get on the turnpike at Morgantown and get off at Breezewood… no where on your ticket will the price be printed.  And we are supposed to “trust” that what ever amount some tells us is due is correct?????  WTH!

PA Auditor General Jack Wagner said he is appalled and feels this is bad judgement.  We AGREE 100%!!!!!  I think this opens the door for abuse!

These losers at the Turnpike Commission are raising the prices 10% for cash customers and 3% for E-ZPass users.  So we are paying more and getting less!

Turnpike Toll Collectors Poised To Become A Thing Of The Past

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Like State Store employees, PA Turnpike Toll Collectors have an uncertain future.  There is a proposal to make the Pennsylvania Turnpike all-electronic.  E-ZPass transponders and cameras may make humans obsolete on the turnpike.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is reviewing bids for a year-long study to make the 545 mile toll road automated.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette puts a human face on the story.  You can read it here: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10318/1103248-455.stm

Just Say No To Tolls On Interstate 80

The Federal Highway Administration has turned down Ed Rendell’s request to make Interstate 80 a toll road in Pennsylvania.  The road runs the entire length of Pennsylvania through rural counties with historically higher unemployment.

Rendell stated this was the third and last attempt by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission to make I-80 a toll road.

We need some better “outside the box” solutions coming out of Harrisburg!