Thompson Calls on PennDOT to Drop Plan to Toll North Fork Bridges

BELLEFONTE, Pa. — U.S. Representative Glenn "GT" Thompson submitted public comments Tuesday to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) strongly opposing their plan to place tolls on the North Fork Bridges in Jefferson County.

Rep. Thompson, who has been a vocal opponent of the proposal, expressed concern with PennDOT's proposal and the limited public input, lack of economic feasibility, traffic diversion, and safety studies. PennDOT recently approached the federal government to finance the project, prior to the conclusion of public comment. Additional reports indicate PennDOT has selected the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission to install gantries to collect tolls for PennDOT along the nine candidate bridges throughout the Commonwealth.

"...the Pennsylvania Turnpike has already been commissioned to install gantries to collect tolls for PennDOT along the nine candidate bridges. Given previous performance issues, it is my concern that the Turnpike does not have the capacity to collect these funds, especially given media reports that the agency failed to collect more than $104 million in tolls during calendar year 2020," Rep. Thompson wrote.

Read the full letter here.

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