PHIA News Digest – Vol. 4, No. 18
$4.2B in gas tax diverted to state police
DePasquale said his new audit of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation shows the agency could be further along in repairing rough highways and fixing 2,829 structurally deficient bridges with the billions of dollars it has used instead to pay to State Police.
Our view: Find lasting state police funding fix
State Auditor General Eugene DePasquale on Thursday issued a reminder that all Pennsylvanians should chew on as they pay one of the nation’s highest gas taxes and yet regularly navigate crumbling roads and bridges meant to be fixed with that money.
Will crumbling bridges force Pennsylvania to approve a fee for State Police?
Harrisburg’s Market Street Bridge provided an appropriate backdrop Thursday, as Pennsylvania Transportation Secretary Leslie Richards and Auditor General Eugene DePasquale called on the Legislature to stop diverting money to the State Police that’s supposed to pay for repairs to deteriorating infrastructure.
Professors and students weigh in on $2 million study of Philadelphia-Pittsburgh hyperloop
The hyperloop, proposed by 1997 College and Wharton graduate Elon Musk, would use electric propulsion to move people and freight through a low-pressure tube.
PennDOT to study how wind could affect vehicles on thruway bridge over Susquehanna River
What effect would winds like that have on vehicles on the nearly mile-long Central Susquehanna Valley Thruway bridge after it is finished in 2022? PennDOT wants answers and plans to gather data by installing wind monitors on the bridge across the West Branch of the Susquehanna River.
Three Pennsylvania bills seek local speed radar use
Multiple efforts underway at the Pennsylvania statehouse would authorize speed radar use by local police. In 2017, Senators voted in favor of nearly identical legislation. The bill failed to win support in the House.
Penn State named key partner in project to study truck platooning
The Thomas D. Larson Pennsylvania Transportation Institute (LTI) has announced that Penn State is one of seven key partners recently selected to participate in Phase 1 of a Truck Platooning Early Deployment Assessment.
Pavement problems with PennDOT pilot program
One year after PennDOT touted its use of recycled asphalt to pave rural roads, the agency now says the process failed.
PennDOT to build area’s first ‘diverging diamond’ at I-83 interchange
PennDOT has started work to build a new interchange at Interstate 83 Exit 4 in southern York County, and the end result will be unlike anything drivers have ever seen in this area.
Law to limit license suspensions for drug charges takes effect
A Pennsylvania law that ends the practice of suspending driver’s licenses for people convicted of drug offenses and other crimes unrelated to driving is now in effect. Under Act 95 of 2018, signed by Gov. Tom Wolf in October, driving privileges won’t be taken away for using, possessing or selling controlled substances.
