Transportation Funding - A Crossroads for the Commonwealth

The week of October 21 will likely see legislation come to a vote in the State House to enact fees and levies which will provide increased transportation funding of as much as $2.5 billion per year to provide money for road and bridge repair and maintenance, and public transit, i. e., something is in this bill for all residents of the state.

Regrettably, House Republicans have been lukewarm, if not flat out opposed to the legislation despite its boosting by Governor Corbett and labor and business groups that recognize the folly of being penny-wise and pound-foolish.

I urge those that have influence with State Representatives like John Maher (I have no such influence as he does not take kindly to valid criticism) to press for passage of this critical legislation.

Of course, if citizens prefer to risk their lives and the lives of their loved ones on a rotted structurally-deficient bridge, to have to detour around a bridge that has been closed, to incur repair bills for vehicles that have struck one of our many potholes, to pay more for goods that are transported in vehicles that have to travel dozens of extra miles around weight-restricted bridges, and if there is no concern about individuals that are dependent on public transmit to get to and from work, appointments with health care providers, and to shop for groceries, then let us continue with the status quo.  If and when the state experiences the collapse of a structurally deficient bridge as occurred in Minnesota six years ago, we can find consolation in all of the money that was saved by not investing in public safety.