U.S. Rep. Altmire seeks more information on proposal to put tolls on Interstate 80

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He would not support a plan to put tolls every 30 miles.

By LAURE CIOFFI

VINDICATOR PENNSYLVANIA BUREAU

SHARON, Pa. — Mercer County's other representative in Congress doesn't want local residents to pay the brunt of proposed I-80 tolls, but he's not ruling out the proposed measure.

U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire of McCandless, D-4th, said he would like more information from lawmakers in Harrisburg on their plans to toll Interstate 80.

The 316-mile road that runs from the Ohio border to the New Jersey border has become a source of controversy in recent weeks after the Pennsylvania Legislature agreed to put tolls on the road to pay for transportation improvements around the state. A large portion of the tolls will be used to fund public transportation in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

U.S. Reps. Phil English of Erie, R-3rd, and John Peterson of Venango County, R-5th, introduced legislation last week that would establish a federal excise tax, equal to the amount of any tolls. That money would have to be given to the federal government, an effort to make tolls on the highway unattractive to state lawmakers.

Altmire said the measure passed by voice vote and has been sent to the U.S. Senate, which likely won't consider it until September.

"I don't want the local people to bear the cost. I also think that the federal government shouldn't insert itself without all of the facts," Altmire said. Altmire is a member of the House transportation committee and would have some input into whether the federally constructed highway could be tolled.

Part of the problem is state officials have not presented a clear plan as to how they would place tolls in I-80.

Altmire said one idea is that tolls would be placed every 30 miles along the road. He said he would not support that measure because it would have an unfair burden on local traffic.

"I don't see one way the locals would not suffer," he said of that proposal.

The English-Peterson legislation has also garnered support from the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association. That national organization last week sent a letter to the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission chastising its director for comments he made about English and Peterson.

Sunday, August 5, 2007