Commissioner defends bridge program
In a recent guest commentary, the argument concerning bridges and how the program lessens the opportunities for economic development is not accurate. Our county has benefited greatly from the emphasis on bridges by the state Department of Transportation. Fayette County has $44.5 million programmed in the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for the total replacement of the Masontown Bridge. This is extra funding over and above the $60 million the county distributes through the TIP program.
By rebuilding and widening the Masontown Bridge, Route 21 will eventually become a four-lane highway originating from Greene County through German Township, South Union Township and continuing through to Route 40 in the city of Uniontown. This will create a tremendous amount of long-term growth and further economic development opportunities for all of Fayette County.
The $44.5 million dollars will accomplish that goal. Additionally, the Masontown Bridge project could not have been completed without this special funding which will allow the Department of Transportation to improve a highway deemed one of the worst in the state of Pennsylvania for traffic fatalities.
Because of the state’s directive to focus on funding bridges, our county is in a position to be approved for the funding over and above our regular TIP allocation. Simply put, this means that more funds can be utilized for the future highway and bridge projects from the 60 million allocated in the TIP Plan.
I want to state for the record that I am 100 percent in favor of the New Salem Road project. The deputy secretary of transportation has publicly stated at the recent Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission meeting that he will help the county complete the New Salem Road Project.
At the present time, however, final engineering design and the right-of-way acquisition have not occurred and must be completed. But, at the end of the day, the New Salem Road project will be completed, working cooperatively with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation officials.
To compliment the efforts of PennDOT, we should look at ways to try and combat the costs of this project, to reduce the amount of public funds needed in a good-faith effort to complete the project sooner; one such way would be to try to set up an impact fee with all private developers in the vicinity of New Salem Road for a percentage of the construction cost. This is the only remaining economic development-related road construction project to complete near the Fayette County Business Park.
In previous years, the county has supported the allocation of several million dollars in highway improvements in the vicinity of the business park. In addition, nearly $8 million has been spent on the ramps at Walnut Hill Road for future economic development.
The Fayette County commissioners have pushed for funding for highway economic development for many years. I have been actively involved with the TIP through the SPC, working to achieve the goal of upgrading our highways and bridges. It is a fact that two Western Pennsylvania bridges have collapsed in the past three years, prompting the need to review the priorities on bridge safety in the Pennsylvania. This has prompted PennDOT to ensure that similar problems don’t occur with more disastrous results.
So you can see that the recent vote of 35-2 at the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission meeting, which included all three of the Fayette County commissioners voting to approve the TIP, was the right decision. Tough decisions must be made, but when you make decisions you must make them for what is best for all of Fayette County.
The problem is enough funding is not available. In order to solve this problem we need to work with our legislators to try to create a solution to properly fund all transportation improvement projects. I hope the Legislature revisits the transportation funding issue this coming fall.
Vincent A. Vicites is a Fayette County commissioner and member of the Southwestern Regional Commission.