Bridgeville, South Fayette governments both express opposition to tolling I-79 bridge
Bridgeville’s borough council and South Fayette Township’s board of commissioners have both formally expressed their opposition to a proposal to place tolls on a bridge on Interstate 79 at the Bridgeville exit.
The resolutions both state the communities were “blindsided” by the announcement last month that the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) is considering tolling drivers who travel across the bridge going in either direction in order to pay for repairs to it. The project would cost somewhere between $120 million and $150 million, and also include widening the interstate in that area.
Officials have suggested the tolls would be about $1 to $2. The bridge, which passes over Route 50, is one of nine interstate bridges across the commonwealth that PennDOT is considering tolling as part of a public-private partnership.
Proponents of the plan contend that the state’s gasoline tax no longer delivers sufficient revenue to pay for road and bridge repairs, and will likely deliver even less in the years ahead as electrically powered cars gain a foothold in the marketplace.
Bridgeville’s resolution, which was approved without dissent, argues that “if these tolls are permitted to be imposed, many of the 87,000 motorists who use this roadway each day will find themselves using alternative routes, such as our local roadways.”
Vehicles from the interstate pouring onto Bridgeville streets would create “dire consequences,” the resolution states, such as unsafe conditions for pedestrians and reduced property values.
The bridge is located in South Fayette, and the township’s resolution covers much of the same territory as Bridgeville’s, and asks that alternative sources of funding be found to repair the bridge. It was built in 1965 and last rehabilitated in 1998. If the plan comes to fruition, construction would begin in 2023 at the earliest.
Other elected officials from the region, including state Rep. Jason Ortitay, R-Cecil, and state Sen. Devlin Robinson, R-Bridgeville, have voiced their opposition to tolling the I-79 bridge. On Friday, Ortitay, Robinson, and other lawmakers, including state Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-Carroll, and state Rep. Natalie Mihalek, R-Upper St. Clair, met with police officers from communities near the bridge to discuss what the impact on public safety would be if it is tolled.
The meeting including representatives from police offices in Bridgeville and South Fayette, as well as Canonsburg, Cecil, Upper St. Clair, Carnegie, Collier and Oakdale.
According to Bartolotta, “This proposal has been ill-conceived, with no collaboration from community, business or first responders, and would create an economic, traffic and safety burden.”