South Fayette, Bridgeville officials formally oppose PennDOT bridge toll plan

South Fayette and Bridgeville officials have taken formal action opposing PennDOT’s plan to fund an I-79 bridge widening project via new tolls.

Both borough council and township commissioners recently unanimously adopted resolutions to that effect.

“Residents and businesses alike are fearful of the negative impacts the proposed bridge tolling will bring to our area,” Bridgeville council president Bill Henderson said via email. “We cannot sit back and accept this ill-advised plan to tax the residents of this area even more.”

“Nobody wants this to happen,” South Fayette commission president Gwen Rodi said. “This will be bad for everybody. We’re already struggling with covid. Now they want to put this on us.”

The I-79 widening and interchange work is expected to cost an estimated $120 million to $150 million. I-79 would get an additional lane in both directions around the Bridgeville interchange, and the interchange would be revamped.

The work is part of Penn­DOT’s Pathways Major Bridge Public-Private Partnership (P3) Initiative to rehabilitate about nine interstate bridges across the state. The total cost is estimated to be between $1.6 billion to $2.2 billion.

The Pennsylvania P3 Board approved the initiative in November, allowing PennDOT to consider different funding methods for the various locations.

One of the plans PennDOT is pushing is adding tolls on the major bridges that need to be rehabbed or replaced.

The toll could be in place as early as 2023 when project work is expected to begin.

“We are already contributing an enormous amount of our tax dollars to help rehabilitate and redesign the south end of Bridgeville in an effort to enhance our town and relieve many of the traffic pressures we feel every day,” Henderson said. “It is unfair to call upon our residents to absorb even more of the cost of this project by establishing a toll to simply get to and from our town.”

Local and state legislators – as well as several business owners – rallied against the project at a press conference in late February.

Marc Snider, owner of Lucha Street Tacos and Bubba’s Gourmet Burghers and Beer told attendees the toll could be “the nail in the coffin” of his restaurants and others in the I-79 corridor already struggling due to the pandemic.

“We’re literally fighting for every single customer for mere survival,” Snider said. “Any time you put in a penance between a customer and your facility, whatever your business is, it’s one step closer to them choosing someone else.”

Rodi, who also spoke at the press conference in South Fayette, said momentum has been building since the event.

“I feel we’re going in a positive direction since the press conference,” she said. “(We) passed resolutions opposing the toll. We’re pushing forward. We’ve met with local law enforcement to talk about the impacts it may have with local municipalities.

Both municipalities are concerned about traffic shifting onto local roads by motorists seeking to avoid the tolls.

State Rep. Jason Ortitay, R-South Fayette, along with Reps. Sheryl Delozier, R-Lower Allen, and Andrew Lewis, R-Dauphin, within the past month introduced legislation that would reform the public-private partnership law, including provisions to halt PennDOT’s tolling proposal unless the General Assembly approves it.

It is unclear when it may move out of the transportation committee.