PHIA News Digest – Vol. 4, No. 46
Study: More than 500M pieces of litter strewn along Pennsylvania roads
An estimated 500 million pieces of litter were strewn along Pennsylvania roads in 2018-2019, with cigarette butts and plastic food packaging, bottles and bags ranking among the most commonly picked-up items, according to the Pennsylvania Litter Research Study.
Pa. infuses nearly $79.3 million into infrastructure improvements in 42 counties
Gov. Tom Wolf has announced the approval of 141 new projects through the Multimodal Transportation Fund (MTF). The projects will improve Pennsylvania’s transportation infrastructure and ensure safer, more reliable transportation for residents and businesses. The projects total nearly $79.3 million in funding.
With FAST Act transportation bill set to expire, states face large potential losses in funding
A BUDGETARY QUIRK TO A 2015 transportation funding bill is set to slash $7.6 billion to certain types of national transportation funding in 2020, eating into transportation budget baselines in states such as Texas, New Jersey and Pennsylvania by hundreds of millions of dollars.
Harrisburg leaders don’t want I-83 expansion project to ‘further separate’ city neighborhoods
Harrisburg officials are preparing to ask the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) to honor expert recommendations that differ from its current I-83 Capital Beltway project plans in South Harrisburg.
Lamb tapped to fill vacancy on prominent House Transportation Committee
U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb has been picked to serve on the powerful House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, filling the vacancy created by the recent death of U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings.
PHIA News Digest – Vol. 4, No. 45
Most of work on thruway bridge over Susquehanna River about to end for winter
The last of the steel girders for the nearly mile-long Central Susquehanna Valley Thruway bridge across the West Branch of the Susquehanna River will be erected this week.
Pennsylvania lags behind in highway safety
Not until early 2020 will motorists who violate Pennsylvania work zone speed limits experience lighter wallets and pocketbooks under provisions of Act 86 of 2018, which authorizes speed cameras in highway construction and repair areas.
Fitzpatrick joins call urging Congress support a federal infrastructure package
U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) on Nov. 1 made a public plea for Congress to support a nationwide federal infrastructure package that would improve the nation’s economy, workforce, public safety, and the environment alongside overdue fixes for America’s roads, rails, bridges, highways, water, power and other related systems.
Slow down in work zones
Drivers can make roads safer by simply slowing down and obeying traffic limits. Motorists who drive 11 mph or more through work zones are putting themselves, other drivers and highway workers at risk of injury or death and by doing so, deserve a speeding ticket.
PHIA News Digest – Vol. 4, No. 44
Pa. Turnpike plans to go cashless by fall 2021; toll collector jobs would be phased out
After four years of testing, the Pennsylvania Turnpike says it plans to move ahead with a $129 million project to become a completely cashless toll system in two years, eliminating hundreds of toll-collecting and auditing positions along the way.
PA lawmakers vote to expand clean transportation
The Pennsylvania Senate’s Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee today voted to advance the Pennsylvania Clean Transportation Infrastructure Act, a bipartisan effort to significantly advance electric vehicles and charging stations across the state while helping tackle one of the biggest sources of climate pollution in the region: transportation.
Work zone speed cameras to be deployed statewide
Cameras to detect speeding in Pennsylvania’s roadway work zones will begin limited operation next week ahead of their use statewide early next year.
New auto port terminal opens in South Philly
More new cars are arriving at the Port of Philadelphia now that a processing facility is officially open next to the Navy Yard, and it’s the city’s first new port terminal in 45 years.
Driver-free shuttles could be arriving in Pennsylvania
20 states have implemented a form of automated shuttles on their roadways. Now, lawmakers here in Pennsylvania are looking to add the Commonwealth to that group.
PHIA News Digest – Vol. 4, No. 43
Fewer teen drivers are on the road in Pennsylvania
The number of teen drivers in Pennsylvania is at a 10-year low and there are fewer crashes involving teen drivers than there were in 2009, according to data from PennDOT.
Maryland official wants to join Pennsylvania to apply for Route 219 funding
Maryland Transportation Secretary Pete Rahn has reached out by letter to his counterpart in Pennsylvania, Leslie Richards, and proposed the states join together to apply for federal funds to finish the last 8 miles of Route 219.
Pa. won’t give driver’s license records to census
Pennsylvania’s transportation secretary is telling the U.S. Census Bureau that her agency won’t provide driver’s license records as part of a Trump administration effort to gather citizenship information. Secretary Leslie Richards wrote Thursday to a Census Bureau official, saying her department won’t participate in the project.
Pa. Turnpike begins cashless tolling Sunday at Ohio border, Route 66 bypass
Beginning at 12:01 a.m. Sunday, the Pennsylvania Turnpike will no longer accept cash payment for tolls at two new locations, the entry from Ohio in Lawrence County and the Turnpike Route 66 bypass in Westmoreland County. The agency is encouraging motorists to use its prepaid E-ZPass transponder linked to a credit card account to pay tolls.
Governors eye regional gas tax to fund transition from fossil fuels
Governors from several northeastern and mid-Atlantic states may have found a way to reduce pollution from cars and trucks and buck the Trump administration, which is trying to weaken auto emissions standards and gut efforts to curb climate change.
Interstate 84 closed due to deteriorating bridge in Pike County
A stretch of highway in the Poconos is closed because of a deteriorating bridge. Interstate 84 east in Pike County is closed between Routes 390 and 507 near Tafton. The hole opened up on the bridge over Shiny Mountain Road. It was discovered Tuesday night.
PHIA News Digest – Vol. 4, No. 42
‘Commonwealth cannot share that information’
In an attempt to run around a Supreme Court ruling, the federal government through the U.S. Census Bureau is asking states, including Pennsylvania, for driver’s license records which traditionally include citizenship data. The Daily Item strongly encourages and urges Gov. Tom Wolf and his administration to stand tall and deny the request, as they have done previously when federal officials sought personal information out of their purview.
PennDOT reviewing Trump administration request for driver’s license data
The U.S. Census Bureau has asked Pennsylvania and other states to voluntarily turn over driver’s license information, as part of the Trump Administration’s efforts to compile citizenship status and other detailed data about people living in the country. But the state has not indicated whether it will comply.
