Mar 26, 2021 3 min read

Traffic in Bridgeville and the surrounding region has long been a source of aggravation leaving frustrated travelers to use back roads or simply avoid the area altogether at the expense of local businesses. The long-congested juncture at Route 50 and Washington Pike near the I-79 exit had finally acquired approval to update and improve the intersection through a project called the Route 50/Chartiers Creek Bridge Widening and Intersection Improvement Project, whose funding includes $788,000 of Bridgeville’s own taxpayers’ money, only to be blindsided by another project proposed this February by PennDOT.

On Feb. 23rd during a PennDOT Pathways briefing, PennDOT authorities announced they were planning to widen I-79 in both directions, rehabilitate and replace both I-79 bridges and reconfigure the interchange. To pay for this project they would begin tolling on I-79 near the Bridgeville exit at a rate of $1 to $2 per direction.

While rehabbing aging bridges and re-configuring the interchange is of importance and should not be overlooked, the plan failed to show any consideration of the current plans to alleviate the traffic-swamped roadways along Route 50 and Washington Pike/Rd and would likely reverse the years of work local legislators have dedicated to fixing the regions traffic problems.

Bridgeville Borough Councilman Joe Verduci shared the newly proposed Bridgeville Borough Resolution No, 2021-8 which sites “the increased traffic and number of motorists who will now be traveling through Bridgeville using our local roadways will create dire consequences that will negatively affect the health, growth and sustainability of our community including: exacerbated traffic congestion, adding to unsafe conditions for pedestrians, degradation of our local roadways that already lack funding to be maintained, reduce property values, result in a lack of future development and investment, and will impose many negative environmental impacts resulting from increased idling of vehicles sitting in traffic.”

In addition, PennDOT had no preliminary plan to account for the divergence that would be created due to travelers dodging the tolling plazas. The tolling would not only exacerbate the already exhausted roadways but would also significantly reduce business traffic due to the lack of accessibility. PennDOT also fumbled with their knowledge of the current projects in the area including the Turnpike’s long awaited Southern Beltway which PennDOT District Executive Cheryl Moon-Sirianni, learned during the Pathways presentation would not toll drivers in that region unlike their proposed project.

A likely detour for travelers in Allegheny county will be the Kirwann Heights exit which has its own set of congestion issues, as well as runoff traffic increasing through Collier Township with vehicles already suffering a daily standstill at Washington Pike along the Chartiers Valley Shopping Center.

Furthermore, having tolls in both directions, would also decrease business opportunities, slow cross-county travel and would likely depress employment opportunities for those living on the outskirts of Allegheny and Washington County.

“The additional traffic congestion on Route 50 would have a detrimental impact on the revenues of the businesses in this area, as many residents would avoid shopping at these businesses because of the additional heavy traffic. This would cause many of these local retailers to suffer economically at a time when we should be doing everything to promote more business, not less,” said Zen Piotrowski, CMIT Solutions South.

Our local community is already suffering due to COVID-19 and this tolling plaza would be the nail in the tire of every business owner in the region. PennDOT needs to find an alternative funding source instead of looking to our region to pick-up the paycheck at a time where our community can’t afford the bill.