PA i80 to become very expensive toll road! (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh: how much, contractors)

[sunsetcliff]

I dont mean average toll- I mean 6 times higher then Ohio, 8 x higher then Indiana. Localities dont like it as any wharehouse ops- now wants out- due to the coming toll expenses.

6 times higher then Ohio? Sounds like a rip off to me. [Ohio is no angel per tollway cost]]

[PghSuburbs]

When you leave PA and enter OH you can tell without a sign because the roads instantly get so much better/flatter/wider and no constant curves which are typical on this side of PA. Ohio tolls are a good deal cheaper than PA. When I returned from Ohio in September it cost $1.50 (or was it $3.00?) just to access our turnpike which seems to be the worst highway in the state. Our roads are the worst I've ever driven on for the past forty years although 80 seems to be in great shape. We had hints the toll was coming. I don't think anyone imagined it would be so high. This state does an awful lot to make people want to avoid coming here.

[Ohiogirl81]

It is a ripoff. Fast Eddie (our "esteemed" governor) wants tolls to pay for bloated and mismanaged mass transit systems in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh (which can't seem to manage their way off the public dole, especially in Philadelphia). He seems to think that only out of state drivers will be paying the tolls. Apparently, Fast Eddie has never actually driven I-80, because he'd see that, aside from the trucks, most of the cars have Pennsylvania tags.

I'm all for mass transit and believe it should be supported by state and local governments. But if the state wants to raise money for mass transit through tolls, then go ahead and toll the Schuykill Expressway, or Parkway East and West. Let the people in the individual metro areas subsidize their own mass transit systems.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81

It is a ripoff. Fast Eddie (our "esteemed" governor) wants tolls to pay for bloated and mismanaged mass transit systems in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh (which can't seem to manage their way off the public dole, especially in Philadelphia). He seems to think that only out of state drivers will be paying the tolls. Apparently, Fast Eddie has never actually driven I-80, because he'd see that, aside from the trucks, most of the cars have Pennsylvania tags.

I'm all for mass transit and believe it should be supported by state and local governments. But if the state wants to raise money for mass transit through tolls, then go ahead and toll the Schuykill Expressway, or Parkway East and West. Let the people in the individual metro areas subsidize their own mass transit systems.

Supposedly these tolls will NOT be utilized for anything other than the maintenance and upkeep of I-80. It would be cruel and unethical for people in the northen half of the state to be feeling the pinch daily in their pocketbooks to pay for failing mass transit systems in the south. If a portion of these tolls DO fund their transit systems, then I demand tolls on the Fort Pitt Tunnel and Schuylkill Expressway to widen the congested stretch of I-81 through Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

[Dawne]

Since this allegedly will raise over a Billion dollars a year, I doubt it'll all be used on I-80. I just hope it doesn't all end up in Philly and Pittsburgh (and Harrisburg and yes, even S-WB). Since the center of the state is most affected I hope the center of the state gets the most benefit from it. One local trucking company owner said this will increase his costs $52,000 PER MONTH!! I can't even imagine! He said he can't pass all that on to his customers so he'll have to cut back his operation, meaning job losses which will also negatively affect the local economy.

I know many, many people use I-80 as a connection between Route 15 and Routes 147 and I-180 so now those people will be traveling through the little towns rather than on the interstate. I feel badly for the people in the towns who will have to put up with increased traffic (and maybe increased truck traffic) once this toll goes into effect. I imagine Route 11 from Danville to Berwick will be use more heavily. Hopefully some of the toll money will make its way to those areas for road upkeep. And maybe the Central Susquehanna Thruway will finally become a reality, connecting Route 147 above Northumberland to Route 15 at Selinsgrove.

I know my mom and her SO travel back and forth to NJ a lot. They're retired and on fixed incomes, so this will affect them and everyone like them.

It's just so annoying and frustrating that Harrisburg isn't listening to the constituents and the congressmen from the areas that will be most affected by this. I'm all for better, safer roads, but isn't that why PA has one of the highest fuel and gasoline tax surcharges in the country? Where'd all that money go that was supposed to be used to fix the roads?!

[danwxman]

Originally Posted by Dawne

Since this allegedly will raise over a Billion dollars a year, I doubt it'll all be used on I-80. I just hope it doesn't all end up in Philly and Pittsburgh (and Harrisburg and yes, even S-WB). Since the center of the state is most affected I hope the center of the state gets the most benefit from it. One local trucking company owner said this will increase his costs $52,000 PER MONTH!! I can't even imagine! He said he can't pass all that on to his customers so he'll have to cut back his operation, meaning job losses which will also negatively affect the local economy.

I know many, many people use I-80 as a connection between Route 15 and Routes 147 and I-180 so now those people will be traveling through the little towns rather than on the interstate. I feel badly for the people in the towns who will have to put up with increased traffic (and maybe increased truck traffic) once this toll goes into effect. I imagine Route 11 from Danville to Berwick will be use more heavily. Hopefully some of the toll money will make its way to those areas for road upkeep. And maybe the Central Susquehanna Thruway will finally become a reality, connecting Route 147 above Northumberland to Route 15 at Selinsgrove.

I know my mom and her SO travel back and forth to NJ a lot. They're retired and on fixed incomes, so this will affect them and everyone like them.

It's just so annoying and frustrating that Harrisburg isn't listening to the constituents and the congressmen from the areas that will be most affected by this. I'm all for better, safer roads, but isn't that why PA has one of the highest fuel and gasoline tax surcharges in the country? Where'd all that money go that was supposed to be used to fix the roads?!

I'm sorry, but the amount of people that will be affected by this is VERY minimal when compared to the state as a whole..

So please tell me...what major cities does I-80 connect? None. Unless you consider New York and Cleveland (which aren't in PA).

I've been on I-80 before, and it is mostly trucks and out-of-state drivers. The toll booths should be placed in such a way as to have the least impact on local drivers, that I can completely agree on.

But I also have NO sympathy for truckers...because of the massive amount of truck traffic our state's roads are crumbling and particulate pollution is among the worst in the whole country in many of our state's metros. It's about time they pay up for the damage to our lungs and roads.

[Ohiogirl81]

Originally Posted by Dawne

I'm all for better, safer roads, but isn't that why PA has one of the highest fuel and gasoline tax surcharges in the country? Where'd all that money go that was supposed to be used to fix the roads?!

Why, into the pockets of the PennDOT managers who get kickbacks from the contractors, of course.

So, if I have to pay $20 every time I venture across the state (about $100 a year) does that mean the gas taxes will go down?

Hahahahahahahahahahaha! I crack myself up ...

[Dawne]

Ohiogirl, you crack me up too. There was talk just recently of adding another 40 cents to the cost of a gallon of gas in PA. Once they take it from you, they never give it back!

Dan, maybe you can help me out. I was under the impression this would be a toll road like the turnpike, with a toll booth at every entrance and exit (in which case this will be years in the undertaking to get all that built). However, maybe that's wrong? Is it instead a toll road with booths every so often, like around Chicago, where you have to go through and throw money into a basket or give to a real person every so often? If that's the case it wouldn't be so bad and wouldn't affect the people who go from Route 15 to I-180 unless they had a toll booth located between the two.

However, our local paper just had something about how much it would cost to travel from the New Columbia (Route 15) interchange (the one I'm most likely to use) to various places to the east or west. For instance, it would cost me $4.00 to travel east to I-81 and $7.10 to travel east to Stroudsburg. It would cost me $3.90 to travel west to Bellefonte and $16.50 to travel west to Sharon. Adding up the extremes (Sharon in the west to Stroudsburg in the east), it would cost $23.60 to travel across the state. That's a lot for a family. I can only imagine what the tolls will be for larger vehicles with more axles such as RVs and big rigs.

[gswpa]

I HATE the idea. I think it's just a way to punish the "locals" in order to support Pittsburgh and Philly. I wish there was a way to kick Philly and Pitt out of the state. We should beg NJ and NY to annex them.

[Ohiogirl81]

Write to your state reps and senators, and to your local congressional reps. Tell them how you feel about it (one way or the other!). If we don't speak up, no one will know our opinions.