Feb 24, 2007 By Alison Hawkes For The 4 min read

HARRISBURG – The Republican chairman of the House Transportation Committee said it was only a matter of time before an I-78-like highway disaster occurred because PennDOT was taking a “gamble” through a number of cost-cutting measures. Rep. Richard Geist, a Blair County Republican, said PennDOT hasn’t filled needed contracts for vehicle fleet repair, and allowed the maintenance of a system of highway cameras and road sensors to fall to disrepair. He said 50 information technology positions have also not been filled, putting PennDOT in the dark when it comes to understanding road conditions.

“If you look at the stuff I’ve looked at, you’re truly gambling that you’re not going to have a storm like this,” Geist said. “We knew the last three years that if a storm like this came along we had a problem.”

His strongly-worded rebuke of PennDOT preparedness came as part of a second day of legislative hearings on last week’s Valentine’s Day storm, this one before a House panel. Hundreds of motorists were stranded for nearly 24 hours on Interstates 78, 80, and 81 as PennDOT struggled with an ill-fated plan to free-up roadways and an emergency response lapsed for a half-day because of a lack in communication.

Geist said he has since taken a look at PennDOT’s district business plans, which assess the needs of each district and are reported yearly to the central office. He found damning comments about a reduction in the number of trucks and a significant portion of the fleet inoperable because contracts with garages to maintain equipment have not been awarded.

“There’s a lot of information in there I believe is extremely damaging to PennDOT,” said Geist. “Comments like, ‘This would be perceived very badly by the general public.'”

PennDOT Secretary Allen Biehler said he was “not familiar with the details” but would find out.

“I don’t know if you can take the business plans and draw quite the same conclusions about the problems on our interstates last week,” Biehler said. “To the extent that’s the case, however, I would be more than happy to look at that exact document and see if that, in fact, had a play [in the incident] I hadn’t considered yet.”

PennDOT Spokesman Rich Kirkpatrick turned down a request to make copies of the business plans available for public inspection, saying, “We’re focused on trying to get this investigation process through.”

One lawmaker stood in PennDOT’s defense. Rep. Tim Solobay, a Washington County Democrat, said in a statement that “999 times out of 1,000 things have worked out well.”

“No matter how well you plan, Mother Nature, not man, ultimately is going to dictate how things play out when there is a storm such as this,” Solobay said.

Geist said one of his most serious concerns is the state road network’s system of cameras and sensors, which measure air temperature and road conditions. The system is not working in large sections of roadways, he said.

A quick review of the Road Weather Information System (RWIS) on the PennDOT Web site shows quite a number of locations across the state labeled “under maintenance,” including sections of the 200-mile roadways that closed last week as well as a number of intersections in Fayette County.

Kirkpatrick said the system, with 77 sites around the state, is being upgraded, but he could not give a timeframe on when it would be completed.

“There is some kind of contract issues that could not be resolved,” said Kirkpatrick.

Geist later retorted: “You have an intelligent highway system but nobody can run it.”

Alison Hawkes can be reached at 717-705-6330 or begin ahawkes@calkins-media.com ahawkes@calkins-media.com end