In a vote taken yesterday, the United States Senate passed its version of a new transportation bill which contained legislative language written by Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) that would allow the U.S. 219 construction project from Somerset to Meyersdale, Pa. – just north of Grantsville – to move forward.
Senator Cardin, who praised Senate passage of the Surface Transportation Reauthorization bill known as MAP-21, championed three separate provisions in the bill designed specifically to aid the completion of the Appalachian Development Highway System (ADHS) and assure federal support for access roads in Garrett, Allegany, and Washington counties.
Senators Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Robert Casey (D-PA), and Patrick Toomey (R-PA) joined in the effort to get the legislation passed.
Specifically, the prohibition on "toll credit" usage for the 13 Appalachian states of the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) and their ADHS was reversed.
Toll credit usage for the required state match was begun in 1992, but was removed for the ADHS projects in 2005. Without it, PennDOT (Pennsylvania Department of Transportation) has refused to move on the U.S. 219 project, citing that provision and the lack of state matching funds, even with the $35 million bond bill for the project. PennDOT has consistently stated it needed another $35 million, or the toll credit language changed, to allow it to offset its required state match with toll credits.
"I have heard from business and civic leaders in western Maryland about the importance of the ADHS to economic growth in the region," said Cardin, "and keeping residents connected to the rest of the country. That is why I made the preservation of this program and the development of important incentive provisions to facilitate the completion of the ADHS a top priority of mine during the Senate's consideration of the Surface Transportation Reauthorization bill."
This change, if passed by the House of Representatives, will allow PennDOT to immediately proceed with the Route 219 construction project from Somerset to Meyersdale, PennDOT Secretary Barry Schoch told the Somerset County Chamber of Commerce last January.
More here.
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