ARTICLE
State Transportation Secretary Barry Schoch told an Allentown audience Thursday that new transportation funding will help PennDOT hit the gas on its backlog of road and bridge repairs, putting a heavy load of traffic restrictions in gear for motorists this summer. Schoch addressed a meeting of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce's Transportation Committee, a group he credited with helping gain passage of Act 98, the new transportation bill, last fall. The controversial legislation uses increased revenue from higher gas taxes, motor vehicle fees and traffic ticket fines to generate an estimated $1.1 billion in new transportation revenue this year, rising to $2.4 billion per year by 2018. "The business community … was a big voice in trying to push this legislation through," Schoch said, the businesspeople focusing not only on the need to rebuild the aging infrastructure, but also on the economic development benefits that derive from improvements. Click here to read the article
State Transportation Secretary Barry Schoch told an Allentown audience Thursday that new transportation funding will help PennDOT hit the gas on its backlog of road and bridge repairs, putting a heavy load of traffic restrictions in gear for motorists this summer.
Schoch addressed a meeting of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce's Transportation Committee, a group he credited with helping gain passage of Act 98, the new transportation bill, last fall.
The controversial legislation uses increased revenue from higher gas taxes, motor vehicle fees and traffic ticket fines to generate an estimated $1.1 billion in new transportation revenue this year, rising to $2.4 billion per year by 2018.
"The business community … was a big voice in trying to push this legislation through," Schoch said, the businesspeople focusing not only on the need to rebuild the aging infrastructure, but also on the economic development benefits that derive from improvements.