Letter to the Editor: Transportation Bill Thank You

To The Editor:

Thank you to Senator Stewart Greenleaf and State Representative Thomas Murt for their courage, wisdom, and support of the transportation bill that was recently passed through the legislature.

It is critically important for the public to grasp just how dire the collective condition of our roads and bridges in the Commonwealth has become. Consider that PennDOT maintains a network of state-owned roads that totals 41,158 miles. That total is more than NY, NJ, CT, RI, MA, VT, and ME combined (40,092)! Roughly 8,000 miles of these roadways are in very poor condition and long overdue for improvements. In addition, Pennsylvania has 25,000 state-owned bridges which make us third in the nation in that category. In the category of structurally-deficient bridges, Pennsylvania ranks at the top as number one at 4,700. We already have weight restrictions on many of Pennsylvania’s bridges and this presently impedes fire trucks from responding in a timely fashion to emergency situations.

Our immediate community is served by three regional rail lines (Warminster, West Trenton, and Lansdale Lines) which bring thousands of commuters to work each day.Greenleaf and Murt made sure that the transportation bill had funding in it for SEPTA and for our neighbors who use the system each day to get to work, to pay taxes, and to support their families.

Locally, the transportation bill will manifest itself in additional slip ramps onto the Pennsylvania Turnpike and in badly-needed improvements to ancillary roads. These improvements will alleviate pressure on the Willow Grove and Fort Washington Interchanges of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, two of the busiest interchanges on the entire turnpike system. The Willow Grove interchange badly needs two on-lanes from southbound Easton Road and the transportation bill will fund a study to assess the best way to address this. All of us have experienced the back-ups, delays, and congestion on these local roads and with trying to enter onto the turnpike during the rush-hour. These roads badly need to be updated and modernized and brought into the 21st century. Greenleaf and Murt understand this.

One of the reasons the price tag is so high for these critically-needed repairs, is that we have not performed the needed repairs for many years. Both Democratic and Republican administrations have not taken action when they should have and we are now in position where we simply must act. We have delayed fixing our roads and bridges for so long, that the repairs have become very expensive.

Thank you to Greenleaf and Murt for putting public service ahead of politics and for doing the right thing for their constituents, for public health and safety, and for the Commonwealth. Greenleaf and Murt did the right thing even though it may have been hard and unpopular. We are fortunate to have them serving us.