Government

FHWA Rejects Toll Plan For I-80 in Pennsylvania

The Federal Highway Administration again has denied Pennsylvania’s proposal to put tolls on the state’s 311-mile stretch of Interstate 80. Pennsylvania says the denial will cost it about $460 million a year in projected revenue for roads and transit. After FHWA’s April 6 ruling, Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell (D) said he will call a special session of the Legislature to address how to deal with the loss of the hoped-for funds.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said FHWA’s decision was based “on what is allowable under federal law.” Under a federal pilot program, revenue from proposed new tolls on an Interstate can be used only for improvements to that highway and not for other projects, FHWA said. FHWA had turned down the Keystone State’s I-80 toll plan once before, in 2008.

As ENR's former Washington Bureau Chief, Tom Ichniowski wrote about the federal government since the George H.W. Bush administration, and covered at least five major highway bills. A recognized expert on government policy on infrastructure and regulation, Tom is also a Baltimore native and Orioles fan who grew up rooting for Brooks and Frank Robinson. He is a graduate of Columbia College and Columbia’s graduate school of journalism, where he once used “unrelentless” in a headline.

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