Elected officials and business leaders voice opposition to bridge toll proposal
Brad Hundt/Observer-Reporter
The bridge on Interstate 79 at the Bridgeville exit could be subject to a toll to pay for repairs and road widening.
Brad Hundt/Observer-Reporter
State Rep. Jason Ortitay, R-Cecil, was one of several elected officials at a Friday press conference voicing opposition to a proposal to the toll the bridge on Interstate 79 at the Bridgeville exit.
SOUTH FAYETTE – Flanked by a sign stating in capital letters, “Stop the Tolls,” elected officials and business leaders voiced opposition Friday to a proposal to toll the Interstate 79 bridge at the Bridgeville exit.
Overlooking the highway at the Beacon I office building in South Fayette Township, state Rep. Jason Ortitay, R-Cecil, said placing tolls on the bridge in both the northbound and southbound lanes would hinder development in the area, damage businesses and cost jobs.
“This is not a partisan issue,” Ortitay said. He also explained that he does not oppose rehabilitating the bridge, but wants to see it funded in a different way.
“We can figure this out if we work together,” Ortitay said.
Last week, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation announced that it was exploring the possibility of placing tolls on nine interstate bridges in various parts of the commonwealth. Proponents of the plan say the tolls would be an alternative way to fund repairs when the gas tax is no longer yielding the revenue it once did. They also contend that the gas tax could soon be outmoded thanks to the projected ascent of electric vehicles.
State Sen. Devlin Robinson, a Republican who hails from nearby Bridgeville, disagreed with that proposition. He said that once the pandemic-induced recession is over, “We will be able to raise the money to fund these projects through the gas tax.”
Robinson further characterized tolls as “a permanent solution to a temporary problem.”
Both Ortitay and Gwen Rodi, president of South Fayette’s board of commissioners, said they received little if any heads-up from Harrisburg about the proposal to toll the bridge before it was announced. Ortitay said he was told an hour before it was announced to the public, and was not told why that bridge was chosen.
“It came as a total surprise to the township,” Rodi said. She also said the feedback from South Fayette residents about a toll has been universally negative.
Real estate developer Jim Scalo, president of Burns & Scalo Real Estate Services, called the proposal to toll the bridge “absurd.”
“This is a tax,” Scalo said. “We have enough taxes. I can’t underscore how angry I am.”
The project would also widen I-79 in that area. If it comes to fruition, construction would begin in 2023 at the earliest.
The bridge was built in 1965 and was last rehabilitated in 1998.