Pa. Submits Revised Plan on I-80 Tolls

Pennsylvania officials have resubmitted an application to install tolls on Interstate 80 and hope to win federal approval to have as many as 10 tollbooths on the 311-mile highway by 2010, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported Thursday.

Tolls on the interstate would contribute about $16.5 billion over the next 50 years toward statewide transportation projects, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission said.

Those tolls are a key part of the state’s plan to raise about $1 billion per year more over the next 10 years for highways, bridges and mass transit projects, the Inquirer reported.

But the law allowing for tolls has been under fire from Pennsylvanians along the I-80 corridor who fear it will hurt the region’s economy, the paper said.

The Federal Highway Administration returned Pennsylvania’s first attempt to secure permission to toll I-80 in December, citing unanswered questions about finances and construction, the Inquirer reported.