PennDOT hopes to fix major bridges across the state, including on I-79, but make them toll bridges

PennDOT has unveiled a plan to widen an I-79 bridge over Route 50 and reconfigure the Bridgeville interchange there.

But PennDOT first has to come up with a way to pay for the work, and officials are considering making that bridge and others toll bridges.

The I-79 widening and interchange work is expected to cost an estimated $120 million to $150 million. I-79 would get an additional lane in both directions around the Bridgeville interchange, and the interchange would be revamped.

The work is part of Penn­DOT’s Pathways Major Bridge Public-Private Partnership (P3) Initiative to rehabilitate as many as nine interstate bridges across the state. The total cost is pegged at between $1.6 billion to $2.2 billion.

The Pennsylvania P3 Board approved the initiative in November, allowing PennDOT to consider alternative funding methods for the various locations.

One of the funding plans PennDOT is pursuing is adding tolls on the major bridges that need to be rehabbed or replaced.

The toll could be in place as early as 2023 when project work is expected to begin.

At a news conference Thursday, PennDOT executives agreed that the state’s gas tax is no longer a viable funding source. Diminished gas tax revenue during the pandemic, as people are driving much less, is just one concern.

“Our reliance on funding models from the last century leaves us especially vulnerable to fund losses stemming from volatile economic conditions and the increasing transition to alternative-fuel or electric vehicles,” said PennDOT Secretary Yassmin Gramian.

Melissa Batula, PennDOT’s deputy secretary for Highway Administration, said the plan is to keep toll fees reasonable.

“For passenger cars, we’re talking in the $1 to $2 range, maybe a little bit higher, but in that general range,” Batula said. “We are very mindful of the impact that those do have, so we’re trying to keep those as low as possible.” The tolls could be collected by E-ZPass or the “toll-by-plate” system used by the turnpike.

Robinson balks

But that part of the funding plan does not sit well with state Sen. Devlin Robinson, a newly elected Republican from Bridgeville, who expressed concern about the impact the tolls would have both short and long term.

“While I certainly support infrastructure improvement, we cannot place the burden of funding this project on the backs of travelers and employers at a time when our region and its citizens cannot afford to bear additional costs or tax increases during a pandemic,” Robinson said.

“As one of the fastest developing areas in Allegheny County and Southwest Pennsylvania, this proposal would have catastrophic effects on the current and future business development in a region that has seen recent growth and significant investments.”

He also said some drivers would take other routes to avoid the toll.

Batula said funding these bridges with tolls could free up enough money to: repave 1,900 miles of highways, build 730 miles of new highway lanes or install 6,600 miles of guiderails.

Regardless of how it’s paid for, PennDOT District 11 Executive Cheryl Moon-Sirianni said, the I-79 bridge widening and Bridgeville interchange reconfiguration project is going to solve a major congestion problem.

“There is a whole lot going on in that area between the development at Southpointe, the development around the Bridgeville area, the Newbury development. This is a very congested and popular route for traffic to take,” Moon-Sirianni said. “We don’t foresee traffic decreasing moving forward on this particular stretch of highway.”