Reminder about the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia and Complete the Schuylkill River Trail Coalition’s presentation about the Complete the Schuylkill River Trail Campaign, a Q&A, followed by an open discussion about other Montco SRT issues, such as public safety, cleanups, etc.
When: Tonight, Thursday, August 20th from 7-9pm
Where: Montgomery County Planning Commission, on the second floor of One Montgomery Plaza, across the street from the Montgomery County Courthouse at 425 Swede Street (intersection of Swede and Airy Streets) in Norristown. You’ll have to sign in at the information desk in the front lobby. Directions to the Montco Planning Commission.
Renew Lehigh Valley has shared an analysis of another PCTI smart transportation project. Much like the Jersey Shore project, this project in the city of Easton includes enhanced bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure:
Recently, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation released the news that it was allocating $59.2 million to fund community-powered projects under the Pennsylvania Community Transportation Initiative (PCTI). Of the multiple Lehigh Valley projects, one of these is a transportation improvement project in Easton, PA. Identified by PennDOT as a proposal that adheres to all ten Smart Transportation themes, the plan will improve the roadway, pedestrian, and bicycle network on Larry Holmes Drive, near the city’s Intermodal Transportation Facility.
When construction on the Intermodal Facility began, city planners quickly realized that the local transportation network needed some improvement in order to raise the level of safety for all commuters. A study initiated by the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission found that missing sidewalks impeded pedestrian activity, and that stop bars at crosswalks were inadequate in ensuring that pedestrians were safe from car traffic.
With recent news that parts of the project have received approval of Easton City Council and the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission, the project is coming closer to reality. A mejor element of the project involves a reduction in vehicular capacity from four to two lanes on Larry Holmes Drive. This will allow enhanced access for bicyclists and pedestrians to Easton’s downtown and riverfront areas.
At 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania, we have made a significant effort over the past few years toward the developing and advocating for the Pennsylvania Community Transportation Initiative (PCTI). Now, we are beginning to see the fruits of our labors as communities around Pennsylvania receive funding to begin work on these important smart transportation projects.
One project to experience early activity is the extension of the Pine Creek Rail Trail through the borough of Jersey Shore to connect with the Susquehanna River and its growing trail system. At a ribbon-cutting event attended by 250 cyclists participating in the 2009 Greenway Sojourn, officials from state and local government affirmed the positive economic impact that this project will have. Jersey Shore has been positioning itself as a hub for outdoor recreational activity and the gateway to the Pennsylvania Wilds. The extension of this trail will assist Jersey Shore in cementing that position and attracting additional visitors.
DCNR Secretary John Quigley spoke at an event in Jersey Shore on the night before the ribbon cutting. In his speech, he laid out the importance of recreational facilities such as the rail-trail for community and economic development as he pleaded with the audience to advocate for continued funding for these important projects.
The news is filled with interesting transportation news right now, so rather than just bring you one in-depth piece, today we are dealing out a hefty helping of transportation for Pennsylvania.
SEPTA has reported an increase in ridership and revenues for the fiscal year that just ended, despite recession-related declines in recent months. This is great evidence that interest in public transportation remains strong.
As Congress continues down the long road to a new transportation bill, policy experts around the country are putting forward their ideas for how the bill can be utilized to shape our country for years to come. A joint effort by PolicyLink and the Prevention Institute outlines how smart transportation funding could make millions of Americans healthier and cut down on rampant health disparities in low-income communities and communities of color.
Withg a foreword by Rep. Jim Oberstar, the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the report provides a much-needed guide to smart, sustainable transportation policies that will reform our current transportation system to help Americans live safer, healthier lives.
“For too long now, our transportation decision-making has failed to address the impacts that our infrastructure network has on public health and equity,” Rep. Oberstar writes in the foreword. “The asphalt poured and lane miles constructed enhanced our mobility and strengthened our economic growth; but too often, this auto-centric mindset took hold and crowded out opportunities to invest in a truly sustainable inter-modal transportation system, in particular a system that meets the needs of underserved communities.”
The report lays out 11 key policy proposals, including:
encouraging and funding healthy and environmentally responsible transportation options like buses, light rail, subways, biking, and walking;
targeting transportation investments to low-income communities and communities of color in order to provide much needed access and lower health disparities;
opening up the transportation planning process by involving local residents and committing to accountability and transparency so community members can have a say in what their needs are; and
promoting the health benefits of reducing injuries from traffic crashes, encouraging physical activity, and improving respiratory health.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act included $8 billion for investment nationwide in high speed rail projects. Recently, a pre-application deadline for awarding this funding passed. While this amount is only a fraction of what is needed to build a 21st century transportation network, it will serve as a catalyst to help improve train accessibility around the country. The planning work that is currently underway in Pennsylvania and elsewhere will lay the foundation for future strategic investment in our transportation system.
Pennsylvania met the initial pre-application deadline for identifying candidate projects. The following four candidate projects were submitted:
Keystone East Corridor Harrisburg to Philadelphia — funding would include track, signal, power and catenary upgrades, grade crossing removal and station improvements or replacements.
Scranton to New York Rail Passenger Rail Service Program Phase 1 — funding for part of a proposed restored 133-mile passenger rail corridor between Northeastern Pennsylvania and Hoboken, N.J., with connections to Penn Station in Manhattan.
Pittsburgh High-Speed Magnetic Levitation Project Phase 1 — funding to design and construct the first segment (Pittsburgh International Airport to Downtown Pittsburgh) of a Maglev, or magnetic levitation, line between the airport and Monroeville/Greensburg.
Keystone West Harrisburg to Pittsburgh High-Speed Rail Feasibility and Business Plan Study — funding for a feasibility study of enhanced intercity passenger rail service between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh. One Amtrak train a day in each direction now serves this corridor.
This pre-application serves as the start of a dialog between Pennsylvania and the Federal Railroad Administration to establish the eligibility of these projects for federal funding. The FRA is expected to award the first round of grants for selected projects by mid-September.
Additionally, work continues on the Pennsylvania Passenger and Freight Rail Plan, which will guide strategic investment in rail projects in the future. Members on the Transportation For Pennsylvania coalition have been engaging PennDOT in the development of this plan, and we will keep you updated on its progress in the future.
A recent New York Times article has been getting much attention from smart growth advocates around the country. The conclusion of the article is that metropolitan areas are getting proportionally less stimulus money than rural areas. It may be true that cities are getting short shrift, but cities and metropolitan areas are two different things. Our coalition conducted a quick review of PennDOT’s Planned Hwy and Bridge Projects and reached some conclusions that you might find interesting.
Pennsylvania’s three largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) – Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and the Lehigh Valley – received 51% of the state’s American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) $1.1 Billion in Highway and Bridge Funds. This number does not include the other 11 MSAs in the state, which would surely increase the metropolitan share of investment. While Pennsylvania’s small cities did seem to be shortchanged in the allocation of funding, we must consider deeper questions of project eligibility, need, and significance in order to understand the situation. Many municipalities surrounding Pennsylvania’s core communities are scheduled to receive road and bridge improvements as a result of ARRA. While PennDOT has done a good job of investing in fixing existing infrastructure, this raises the question, “Now that we are fixing it first, are we fixing the right things, in the right places, right now?“
At Transportation For Pennsylvania, we feel that there are a few things to consider in evaluating these projects:
The rules of the stimulus and the existing transportation project selection system have flaws and show us where changes need to be made. The stimulus’s focus on speed and “shovel readiness” isn’t designed to produce strategic projects; its intent is to create jobs and push money into the economy. We are using a “broken” transportation project selection system to deliver federal resources into regional economies. Many communities found themselves scrambling to identify projects that met the ARRA requirements. The results of the New York Times article demonstrate the need for strategic and structural reform. The current system encourages politics over rationality and helps scatter the investments that we are making rather than target them to where they are needed most.
Projects need to be eligible to receive federal funds. Not all roads are eligible for federal funding. Many roads inside of cities are the responsibility of the municipality; they require local or state dollars to have them rehabilitated. In our review of the list, we noticed that many of the approved projects are state routes, interstates, or US-highways. Examples include PA-66, I-95, and US-30. PennDOT is often unable to invest in the road networks that make up our core communities. In many suburban or rural areas, the sole road of significance in the community is the state’s responsibility and is eligible under federal guidelines.
Metropolitan and rural areas are not mutually exclusive. Many rural areas in Pennsylvania are part of metropolitan areas. Counties such as Armstrong, Fayette, Washington, Butler, and even Westmoreland, have major rural characteristics but are still classified as part of the the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, which received over $200 million dollars in ARRA funding. Even though ARRA provided funding to the entire Pittsburgh metropolitan area, the majority of it went outside core communities. The same holds true in the other two large MSAs. Investments in metropolitan areas are not synonymous with investments in urban areas. Pennsylvania’s 14 MSAs no doubt received more money than areas outside the MSAs, but that does not mean cities and core communities got more investment than rural and suburban communities.
The much anticipated rail line promised to connect Scranton to Hoboken has received a critical approval from the Environmental Protection Agency. Now that the EPA has declared a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the project, project administrators are cleared to face what may be the largest hurdle of all to bring rail service to the region: funding. When Complete the rail line will allow commuter access to New York City for much of Northeastern Pennsylvania, including the Pocono communities that have seen dramatic population growth in the form of New York and New Jersy commuters.
The DuBoise Courier-Express has recently published two articles that outline the competing views of Pennsylvanians on the idea of tolling Interstate 80. First was a piece covering a community meeting hosted by Congressman Glenn Thompson on the issue. Thompson is clearly against tolling of not only Interstate 80, but also nearly any other road in America. From the reporting in the article, this sentiment appeared to be shared by most of the crowd. Their concern: money, or more specifically the money that would be lost to tolling.
“No matter where you live in the commonwealth and no matter how you vote (it) is going to have an impact on everything the state does,” Thompson said. He said issues that will be impacted include the price of goods moving across the commonwealth and the municipal funding shortfalls that will be seen when increased usage begins to occur through diversion to local roads.
An opinion article published today takes a critical look at Thompson’s claims of the looming economic collapse that would be brought on by tolling. The conclusion of author Denny Bonavita is that Thompson has missed the critical issue in all this: Interstate 80, like much of Pennsylvania’s transportation infrastructure, is in desperate need of repair. Current revenue sources are not meeting the pent up demand for repair work.
As we understand it, the issue is not whether to raise more millions or not. The issue is whether to raise more millions – or risk imposing weight limits that will not allow trucks to use bridges on some stretches of I-80. Weight limits mean every truck uses secondary roads, whereas tolls mean some do and some don’t.
Certainly, tolling any road or raising the gas tax will have some kind of economic impact, but allowing our infrastructure to fall apart also has an impact. Ultimately, what we need are solutions to fill the funding gap. Toll roads are a solution. So is a gas tax. Opposing these measures without an alternative is not.
Pennsylvania has funding to 131 shovel ready transportation projects as part of the federal stimulus plan. Nearly all of these projects are much-needed maintenance projects on the state’s roads and bridges. But what about the jobs? Is this funding fulfilling the promise of getting people back to work?
Today, the Patriot News weighed in with a thoughtful article on the subject and concluded with mixed reviews. What’s standing in the path to recovery? The federal Highway Trust Fund:
Hiring employees requires more than just stimulus funding. Contractors need to know what’s in store for the federal Highway Trust Fund–which expires Oct. 1 — before bringing new help into the mix.
Unless the government comes up with money quickly, the fund’s outlook seems bleak. It is projected to run out by Aug. 21, and the Associated Press reported Thursday that the Obama administration needs an additional $5 billion to $7 billion to keep federal highway reimbursements afloat until Oct. 1.
According to U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, it will take $20 billion to pay for transportation projects through March to give Congress time to pass a bill to cover five to six more years.
Add that to the list of reasons why Congress should get to work on reauthorizing the federal transportation bill!
