A Pennsylvania bill nearing statehouse passage is intended to ensure local funding flexibility for county and municipal bridges. Bridge projects in the city of Philadelphia would directly benefit from the change.
Keystone State law appropriates motor license fund dollars for the construction and repair of county bridges. For much of the past decade, Pennsylvania has appropriated $5 million annually out of the motor license fund for county bridges.
Sen. Greg Rothman, R-Mechanicsburg, said that while the funds are used to repair county-owned bridges, current spending guidance fails to note how the funds could be used for bridges owned by municipalities.
As a result, Rothman has said municipal bridges suffer and go without repair while remaining funds go unused due to vague guidance.
Addressing local bridge-funding barrier
A bill awaiting House floor consideration would expand how counties can use transportation funds. Specifically, SB799 would explicitly allow state funds to be used for county and municipal bridge projects.
House Transportation Committee Chairman Ed Nielson, D-Philadelphia, amended the bill in committee to clarify that the city of Philadelphia is considered a county. The change would make more money available for Philadelphia bridges.
Nielson pointed out in his amendment that statute considers the city and county of Philadelphia as the same legal entity.
He told committee members that the city of Philadelphia owns 158 bridges. He added that the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation considers 157 bridges of the bridges to not be eligible for motor license fund dollars because they are owned by the city and not the county.
“However, everybody in the capitol and everybody in the state of Pennsylvania knows the city of Philadelphia and the county of Philadelphia are the same legal entity,” Nielson said. “There are 157 bridges owned by Philadelphia that are actually county-owned bridges and should be eligible for this program.”
Rothman previously stated that maintaining safe roads and bridges is a core function of government. He added that his legislation “removes regulatory barriers and gives counties the flexibility they need to make much-needed repairs to both county-owned and municipal-owned bridges.”
If approved by the full House, SB799 would head back to the Senate for approval of House changes before it can move to the governor’s desk.
Governor touts bridge funding statewide
Gov. Josh Shapiro recently announced that a year ago, Pennsylvania repaired more poor-condition bridges than any other state. He cited data from the Federal Highway Administration.
The governor said progress continues this year, with PennDOT advancing projects for more than 300 state and locally owned bridges.
He added that over the past 16 years, the state has been able to lower the number of state-owned bridges classified as in poor condition from more than 6,000 to fewer than 3,000. Affected bridges have either been replaced or repaired.
Shapiro said his administration this year also secured the largest federal transportation grant received in Pennsylvania for the Interstate 83 South Bridge in Harrisburg.
The $500 million Large Bridge Project grant will help replace the bridge, which carries more than 125,000 vehicles over the Susquehanna River each day. Truck traffic accounts for 15% of daily traffic on the bridge. LL
Today, @SecretaryPete, @SenBobCasey, and I announced a $500 million federal grant to replace I-83 South Bridge over the Susquehanna River — the largest federal transportation grant for a single project in Pennsylvania history.
For a year and a half, I’ve bothered @POTUS and… pic.twitter.com/dOeHoe114X
— Governor Josh Shapiro (@GovernorShapiro) July 17, 2024
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