Road to disaster
If you’ve traveled on the Mon-Fayette Expressway since the first of the year, you may have found yourself reaching for a few extra coins when you pass through the toll booths.
That’s because fares for cash-paying travelers went up on most of the state’s toll roads, including the Mon/Fayette Expressway, by 10 percent on Jan. 1.
If you’re driving the entire 54-mile stretch of the completed portion of the expressway from the Gans exit near the West Virginia border to Route 51, where it ends, you’ll be paying $10.62 round trip. From Searights, just beyond Uniontown, to Route 51, the toll will be $4.10 one way.
Regular drivers of the state’s turnpike have noticed that fares inching up is something of a trend as of late. That’s because after only raising tolls four times in 70 years, the turnpike has raised fares each of the last four years (25 percent in 2009, 3 percent in 2010, 10 percent for cash customers, 3 percent for E-ZPass users in 2011 and 10 percent for cash customers this year).
This has been necessitated by legislation — called Act 44 — passed in 2007 to force the turnpike to borrow a ton of money to fix other roads and bridges in the state and then raise tolls to pay off the debt. Legislators were also hoping to toll I-80 to raise more funds for transportation, but that request was turned down by federal officials.
So, the financial burden for taking care of the state’s highway needs, including mass transit, was shifted to those traveling the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
In the end, Act 44 was the result of our state politicians taking a shortcut instead of finding a real solution via higher taxes or other fees to fix the chronic shortfall in transportation funds.
In Fayette County, we see the real-world consequences of this “great” idea: The Mon-Fayette Expressway was supposed to be the economic savior of the Mon Valley and Fayette County by opening us up for development. Instead, it’s being undercut by the incessantly increasing tolls.
While the expressway was supposed to bring in businesses and lighten the load on outdated Route 40, nothing of the sort is happening. Traffic on the expressway is generally light with few motorists willing to pay the high tolls, especially when a free alternative in Route 40 is readily available.
You have to think more people would be traveling the expressway if the tolls were more reasonable.
Now we find Route 40 busier than ever with the increase in truck traffic from the Marcellus shale drilling as the companies involved don’t want to pony up the high toll fees everyday either.
And since the tolls are just as likely to go up next year, this isn’t something that is going away anytime soon.
But this isn’t something solely affecting our area. State Auditor General Jack Wagner said last week that the turnpike is “drowning in debt,” and we’ll likely see toll increases for every year Act 44 is in existence.
Wagner said the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission’s long-term debt already has grown by 181 percent, from $2.6 billion to $7.3 billion since Act 44 took effect. Annual debt service — interest it pays on the borrowing — has increased from $179 million to $353 million.
“These numbers jumped out at us, and they concern us greatly,” he said. “It’s unsustainable. It’s not going to be long before they need to be rescued.”
PennDOT Secretary Barry Schoch, who also serves as a turnpike commissioner, said the payments are sustainable if the toll road’s revenue continues to grow by 3 to 5 percent annually, from toll and traffic increases.
But you have to wonder if annual toll increases will eventually drive highway traffic to untolled highways like Interstate 80 and Interstate 68.
So what’s the plan out of this mess? Well, Gov. Corbett either has no ideas or is seeking to prove that government is ineffective by making inaction the keyword of his administration.
It started out promisingly enough, as the governor actually appointed a commission to recommend how to find the billions of dollars needed for transportation. But then when the commission issued recommendations in August, he decided to do nothing at all — despite calls for action from both Democrats and Republicans in Harrisburg.
Our roads are crumbling, our bridges are falling apart and our current path is untenable. The governor needs to start acting like one and offer a way forward. After all, it’s not like he would have much trouble enacting whatever plan he devises, as the GOP controls every branch of state government.
Gov. Corbett needs a plan for how to fund transportation that doesn’t involve bleeding dry everyone who drives on the turnpike. Because while it may seem fine to him to keep raising fares into the undetermined future — we here in Fayette County realize just how devastating an impact that can have on our economy and our region.