By Anthony Hennen | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – Reconnecting communities, building more housing near transit corridors, and using speed cameras to make roads safer held lawmakers’ attention as PennDOT officials testified on Thursday.
Acting Secretary Mike Carroll also emphasized how funding approaches could change for major projects and local development around public transportation.
“We have a common goal: that is to provide a safe and efficient transportation network for all of our residents,” Carroll said. “I look forward to advancing our common interest to make sure we have a world-class transportation network that meets the needs of all of our residents, advances our economic interests, and does it all safely and efficiently.”
He emphasized PennDOT’s commitment to improving infrastructure and public transit service to underserved communities.
“When it comes to the challenges that exist for people of color in urban centers, there are a series of things that have happened that have not been helpful to that community, and we’re going to take our level-best effort to try and make that right.” Carroll said.
He pointed to plans to reconnect Chinatown in Philadelphia by capping portions of Interstate 76 and a similar effort for the Manchester neighborhood in Pittsburgh, which was divided by State Route 65 in the 1960s.
“The department hasn’t been wildly skillful, as has many transportation agencies across the country, when it comes to dealing with these sort of legacy problems that exist,” Carroll said. “But it doesn’t mean we can’t address them, and we’re going to try and address them.”
For bigger PennDOT projects, the department may move away from public-private partnerships, at least in some cases.
“I’m not sure that the P3 model is a great choice for us when it comes to roads and bridges,” Carroll said. “But there are other opportunities for P3 projects that are certainly worthy of examination.”
A controversial P3 project that would have added tolling to nine bridges across the commonwealth as a way to raise funds for maintaining them was killed by the Commonwealth Court last June, as The Center Square previously reported.
For funding local projects, building more housing and businesses close to public transit could have a future.
“The most important thing we can do is encourage dense, multi-family housing along our transit corridors,” said Rep. Josh Siegel, D-Allentown. “It’s a sort of chicken-and-egg thing: if you want good public transit, you need to make sure there’s enough folks that reside around it that can take advantage of it.”
PennDOT leaders expressed support for such plans.
“That’s smart planning, whether it’s in Allentown or any other city,” Carroll said. “Being able to utilize assets in a smart way is always good policy, and everything that the department can do to advance that kind of vision is something we’ll support.”
He also voiced support for speed cameras to enhance safety.
“The speed by which folks are driving through work zones has declined as a result of the presence of those cameras … that regiment has really helped prevent loss of life or injury in work zones,” Carroll said. “Cameras on Roosevelt Boulevard in Philadelphia … I believe it has made that transit better, and we do need to renew these programs by the end of this calendar year.”
