Southwestern Pa. Commission Begins Next 4-Year Plan

The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC) held a public meeting Tuesday previewing its next Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP). The upcoming plan will cover the years 2025-2028. It looks at roads, bridges, public transportation and other means of transportation like trails and bikeways. According to Dominic D’Andrea, SPC Director of the Office of Transportation Planning, $3.9 billion is estimated to be available for the 10 county region for that time period. D’Andrea states that currently in the highway/bridge plan, 43% of the monies are designated for bridge projects and 23% for roads. Angela Swallop Saunders, Transportation Planning Manager for PennDot states that projects are still suffering cost overruns due to inflation. Supplies and diesel fuel are still high. She also said that delays in steel beam construction and concrete culvert construction also contribute to those cost increases. Saunders also stated that PennDot is working with local municipalities, that have extremely limited funds to maintain bridges, to help them financially to replace and main bridges that they own. According to the SPC’s D’Andrea, funding methods could change over the next several years. The buying power of the gas tax is becoming less productive because of fuel efficent vehicles, hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles. Ideas such as tolls, road use charges and additional registration fees suggested by Governor Tom Wolf’s administration are being entertained by the current adminstration. A draft of the 2025-2028 TIP will be available in May, 2024.