Dec. 09, 2021
WEISSPORT – Rep. Doyle Heffley (R-Carbon) issued the following statement regarding Wednesday’s open house hosted by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) to provide the public with information on the proposal to toll the Lehigh River Bridge along Interstate 80, along with eight other bridges in the Commonwealth.
“I think it is a complete waste of time and energy for PennDOT to continue pursuing its plan to toll these bridges. The Public-Private Partnership (P3) Board overstepped its boundaries when it advanced the proposal, which has been clearly rejected by both the public and the Legislature.
“In recent hearings conducted by the House Transportation Committee, of which I am a member, several other, more worthy funding alternatives to PennDOT’s tolling plan were presented. We also learned that Pennsylvania is set to receive $4 billion in federal infrastructure funding that can go toward these bridge replacement projects.
“Instead of holding these pointless open house meetings about a plan to further burden taxpayers, PennDOT should be focusing on improving its permitting process to help grow the state economy. The department is simply out of touch with reality.”
The public open house was held at Split Rock Resort in Lake Harmony.
Representative Doyle Heffley
122th Legislative District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Andy Briggs
abriggs@pahousegop.com
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