PennDOT secretary, Pittsburgh officials call for transit funding during budget impasse

Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration met with local officials Thursday in Downtown Pittsburgh to stress the importance of transit and infrastructure funding as the state and region looks to repair hundreds of roads and bridges.

PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll met with officials on the Smithfield Street Bridge, a 140-year-old span undergoing an $8.5 million preservation project.

Carroll said it costs $3 billion each year to maintain all the roads and bridges in the state, and there are more than 1,500 projects worth over $9 billion currently or expected to be underway on state-maintained roads this year.

“The challenge for us is to try to find a way to get more money without going to the taxpayers and asking them to pony up more,” said Carroll.

PennDOT Deputy Secretary Cheryl Moon-Sirianni highlighted the Smithfield Street Bridge as important for all different modes of travel. Not only is the bridge one of many that brings drivers into Downtown Pittsburgh, but it also receives the most pedestrian river crossings of any bridge in the city.

“It takes a lot of money to keep these projects going, getting them out to bid, and getting them constructed,” she said.

Local officials like Pittsburgh Deputy Mayor Jake Pawlak said that funding from the $1.2 trillion infrastructure law has helped out the city to repair and replace some of its bridges, like the Fern Hollow Bridge. The city still has a lot of catching up to do, and it relies on state funding to continue its efforts to repair city-owned bridges, he said.

Moon-Sirianni said without the federal infrastructure funds PennDOT would have only been able to pave one major road per year in Allegheny County.

She said 44 Allegheny County bridges will be repaired or replaced in 2023, including 12 that were in poor condition. Moon-Sirianni said she would like to see those numbers increase moving forward.

Carroll said additional repair money could come from the state’s Motor Vehicle Fund. Several years ago, the fund was facing financial strain because, in addition to funding roads and bridges, it was a major contributor to fund state police. At one time, the fund provided $800 million to police, but that has been reduced over the years to $500 million.

Shapiro proposed lowering that current $500 million allocation by $125 million down to $375 million for this year’s budget, instead having the general fund cover the difference for state police funding, which has been growing. Carroll said the goal is to eventually end the allocation from the Motor Vehicle Fund to state police, and instead have the $500 million go directly to PennDOT’s road and bridge repair needs. He said there are dozens of necessary PennDOT projects that still need completed in Allegheny County.

“For some context, that $500 million is about 8 cents per gallon of our gas tax,” said Carroll. “So when folks pay the gasoline tax in our state, 8 cents goes straight to the state police. By preserving that money that people pay at the pump, we will be able to use it for PennDOT’s needs, which are significant.”

But, the budget, and its proposed $125 million allocation, is currently at an impasse between Democratic and Republican lawmakers.

Carroll called on lawmakers in Harrisburg to return to session so PennDOT can return to fixing the state’s roads and bridges.

State Rep. Seth Grove, R-York, said Thursday at a press conference in Harrisburg that the impasse will likely continue, possibly not ending until October.