11 Investigates: Pennsylvania court blocks governor’s bridge tolling plan

HARRISBURG — Opponents of PennDOT’s effort to toll interstate bridges scored a major victory tonight.

A state court is permanently blocking Gov. Tom Wolf’s plan to toll as many as nine major bridges on interstates in Pennsylvania, siding with three Pittsburgh-area municipalities that argued that his administration had violated procedures in getting to the advanced stage of considering the idea.

Washington County resident Peter Linko led a local petition drive to stop the P-3 proposal, which stands for public-private partnership.

“Today is an incredible day. The people’s voice has been listened to. What we’ve been fighting for 10 months has come to pass, and now we can rest easy knowing that unelected bureaucrats are not making decisions for the people,” Linko told Channel 11 News, after the court decision was announced.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

• Lawmakers, stakeholders hold rally against PennDOT’s bridge tolling proposal
• PennDOT plans to toll 9 bridges, including I-79 bridge in Bridgeville
• Debate continues over I-79 bridge in Bridgeville, others possibly becoming toll bridges

Bridge tolling proposal

Today’s ruling comes in response to a lawsuit filed by local communities, Bridgeville, South Fayette and Collier Township.

A panel of Commonwealth Court judges on Thursday granted the municipalities’ request to effectively declare the plan dead because Wolf’s Department of Transportation hadn’t followed the law.

The P-3 plan would have meant a toll in both directions on the Interstate 79 bridge between Bridgeville and South Fayette.

The Wolf administration was hoping to require a one-to-two-dollar toll on as many as nine bridges throughout the state to help supplement the state’s gas tax for road repair.

The governor’s office put out this statement in response to the court’s decision:

“To date, the legislature has failed to offer any solutions beyond their approval of this P3 initiative, that will assist the administration’s desire to phase out the gas tax. The Wolf Administration continues to welcome discussions with the General Assembly on alternative funding sources that can replace the gas tax, which is no longer a dependable source of funding to meet all bridge and highway needs in this commonwealth.”

Wall of opposition

Linko gathered more than 15,000 signatures on his petition to oppose the initiative. A bipartisan group of residents, state-elected officials and businesses joined the fight against the plan.

Opponents argued that Pennsylvania already has the third highest gas tax in the country and said it wasn’t fair to put yet another tax on citizens.

“Ninety-thousand people were going to have to pay over $1,000 extra a year just to get to work,” Linko said. “The problem is this project was being done by unelected bureaucrats in Harrisburg who don’t have to live here, don’t have to struggle with that. There are people who can barely fill up their tank, especially now.”

The governor’s office tells Channel 11 is reviewing the decision to determine if they can take any further action.

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