PITTSBURGH – Surrounded by transportation advocates and regional officials, Gov. Tom Corbett yesterday highlighted the Pittsburgh region’s need for a comprehensive transportation plan.
Corbett, standing in the shadow of the Birmingham Bridge, also urged the public to call their lawmakers and demand action on a bill. Negotiations on a compromise transportation plan will continue when the General Assembly returns to session on Nov. 12.
“Passage of a comprehensive transportation plan is crucial,” Corbett said. “A yes vote will mean long-stalled projects will move forward and the Pittsburgh region will see safety and economic benefits.’’
The Birmingham Bridge, which is on PennDOT’s Decade of Investment list of improvements that can be accomplished with additional funding, had to be closed for about a month in 2008. The closure was needed to make repairs after a rocker bearing, which normally moves freely to allow a bridge to flex, froze in place because of corrosion. That triggered an 8-inch drop in the bridge deck.
“Transportation impacts all of us. I urge the public to contact their state elected officials and tell them to do the responsible thing and vote yes for safety, vote yes for our economy and yes for our state’s future.”
Corbett also noted that several regional highway, bridge and transit projects would be completed, such as:
• Reconstructing pavement and preserving bridges along eight miles of the Interstate 376 Southern Expressway in Allegheny County, from the Business 60 Interchange to the Flaugherty Run Interchange for $87 million;
• Rehabilitating the Birmingham Bridge in the City of Pittsburgh for $34 million;
• Repairing and preservation painting on the PAAC’s Panhandle Bridge for $16.7 million;
• Constructing a pedestrian walkway from Whited to South Bank for PAAC’s south busway for $940,000; and
• Improving the east busway station for $250,000.
A list of potential highway and bridge projects that could be funded with a significant transportation bill can be found at www.dotdecade.pa.gov.
Southwestern Pennsylvania will continue to see roadways become rougher and more of the region’s many bridges will become structurally deficient without a transportation bill. The future of transit is also in question without the Legislature passing a plan.
Without additional transportation funding, the Port Authority of Allegheny County (PAAC) service and Amtrak service west of Harrisburg will be impacted. In addition, the Airport Corridor Transportation Association and Heritage Worklink transportation services, providing nearly 200,000 trips to work annually by van, will stop operating at the end of November without funding.
“Cuts in transit services would be devastating to the region, but in the very near future there will be no choice without action on a transportation plan,” Corbett said.
“By voting yes for transportation, lawmakers would take a very much needed step to dealing with pressing transportation needs statewide,” Corbett said. “If the General Assembly can reach agreement on a bill and send it me, Pennsylvania’s vital transportation services will continue and additional benefits will soon follow.”
For more information, visit www.pa.gov.
