(The Center Square) – PennDOT is celebrating a busy year.
The agency has improved 5,485 miles of roads, primarily paving, a major problem for Pennsylvanians.
The year also saw progress on 422 state and municipal bridges and 447 private construction contracts.
The state claims over 120,000 miles of roads, of which over 41,000 are owned by the state and over 79,000 are owned by local municipalities. Nearly 29,000 people benefit from the federal assistance system, including more than 7,000 miles in the National Highway System and nearly 2,000 miles in the Interstate System.
“Investing in and improving our infrastructure is a common-sense way to spur economic development, create jobs and help Pennsylvanians reach their destinations safely and efficiently. “These improvements will help our communities grow as we continue to work together to move Pennsylvania forward,” Gov. Josh Shapiro said in October.
In 2023, PennDOT bragged about the Largest decline in bridges in poor condition of a state in the country, and the current government has tried to keep the momentum going with hundreds of projects in the works. Of the state's more than 25,000 bridges, nearly 2,200 were in need of repair.
Just before the 2022 collapse of Pittsburgh's Forbes Avenue Bridge, in which a bus plunged into the ravine below, the state received $1.6 billion in federal aid to improve bridge infrastructure.
Despite impressive numbers, lawmakers and residents continue to vocally oppose the state's transportation priorities. A key criticism is the lack of attention to local issues and traffic safety that affect people in their daily lives in favor of a highway infrastructure that supports the state's huge trucking industry.
Local issues such as potholes, traffic calming, pedestrian and safety measures are being addressed with broad surveys and town halls, but many feel that this is the case Concerns fall on deaf ears. Over the past year, the number of pedestrian deaths in the state has increased, a statistic that has been declining in other states since the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Much of the fighting over funding stems from the divide between the state's vast rural areas and its major cities, leading many to complain about the state's investments in public transit like SEPTA, which serves about 700,000 daily riders in the region Philadelphia supported.
Differences between Republicans and the Shapiro administration came to a head when SEPTA announced it would have to raise fares and reduce routes to stay afloat in 2025. Lawmakers were unable to agree on long-term funding.
Republican leaders insisted that with SEPTA's support from other revenue sources, more investment should be made in infrastructure across the state. Shapiro said proposals, including one that would tie revenue from skill game regulation to the agency, never reached his desk.
Ultimately, Shapiro used federal highway capital funding to delay a transportation crisis in the city.