Bridge Problems Flying Under Corbett’s Radar

From the staff at PA Independent:

Pennsylvania has more structurally deficient bridges than any other state in the nation, according to a new report. 

According to Transportation for America (T4A), a Washington, D.C.-based coalition lobbying for federal tax funds to repair the country’s decaying transportation infrastructure, Pennsylvania has 5,906 “structurally deficient” bridges. 

That is a little less than one of every four state bridges. 

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation said T4A used a dated federal database in its calculations. PennDOT said there were 5,371 bridges that were structurally deficient at the end of 2010. 

PennDOT spokesperson Rich Kirkpatrick said there were 6,034 structurally deficient bridges at the end of 2009. Kirkpatrick said repairs during the past few years have been aided by an additional $200 million per year from a state bond issue and federal stimulus funds that have now ended. 

Acknowledging the need for significant bridge and road repairs, Kirkpatrick said if the state finds bridges dangerous, those bridges are either shut down or traffic weight limits are placed on the spans. 

During his budget address last month, Gov. Tom Corbett made no mention of the state's troubled bridges or the 7,000 miles of roads needing repair. In fact, he did not use the word "transportation" once during the entire 4,200-word address. 

The governor’s office did not respond to questions April 4 regarding the bridge and road deficiencies. 

State Rep. Rick Geist, R-Blair, chairman of the House Transportation Committee, has spent much of his 33 years in the General Assembly pushing for a sustained transportation funding base. 

Geist said he did not know why the governor did not address the critical need, but said a possible vote on a public-private partnership (P3) transportation bill next week is critical in simply keeping the state’s transportation system stable. 

The P3 bill, H.B. 3, has 69 co-sponsors, but its fate is uncertain, Geist said, because of lobbying opposition by the Pennsylvania Public Interest Research Group, a citizen advocacy group, and various elements of organized labor. 

A letter from the Pennsylvania Public Interest Research Group sent to state lawmakers April 4 claims that many public-private partnerships end as short-term budget gimmicks that appear to fix budget deficits while creating long-term risks for the public. 

"Pennsylvania's roadways and other public infrastructure must be operated for the long-term public interest. Without strong public protections, the contractual stipulations in public-private partnerships can greatly harm the public interest," read a part of the letter. 

Alana Miller, a spokesperson for PennPIRG, said the organization does not oppose all privatization, but specifically takes issue with H.B. 3 as it is written. 

A P3 operation would translate into more toll roads for the state with revenue being split between the private operator and the state. HB3 earmarks any state revenue from the P3 solely for transportation needs. P3 operations find private investors either taking over the operation of private roads or building new ones, with profits generated from user fees, generally tolls. 

Last year, a state advisory committee said an additional $3.5 billion annually would be needed on a continuing basis to remedy that state’s road and bridge deficiency. 

The T4A study says the counties in Pennsylvania with the highest percentages of structurally deficient bridges are McKean, Potter, Clearfield, Lawrence and Schuylkill. Nearly half the bridges in those counties are deficient. 

Snyder, Dauphin, Erie, Northumberland and Montour counties have the lowest percentages of structurally deficient spans. About 10 percent to 15 percent of the bridges in those counties are deficient. 

Allegheny County, home to Pittsburgh, the “City of Bridges,” has a structurally deficient rate of 26.8 percent for its 1,233 bridges, according to the T4A data.