Positive economic news continues across the Commonwealth as various transportation projects move forward.
This week we hear from TRIP, a national transportation research organization, which released a study projecting that completion of the Mon-Fayette Expressway, along with a proposed addition to the Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway, will create more than 20,000 jobs in the Pittsburgh region.
To our east, Montgomery County officials believe a new exit off of I-276 will significantly enhance opportunities for economic growth around Norristown.
And let’s not forget about the recent news of the FedEx package processing facility in the Lehigh Valley, expected to create nearly 700 jobs when all is said and done.
The farther we get into the Decade of Investment, the more good news there is to share, and the more obvious that passage of Act 89, going on three years ago, was a very positive thing for Pennsylvania.
Transportation Issue Update
- TRIP, a national transportation research organization, released a study projecting that completion of a 13-mile stretch of the Mon-Fayette Expressway would create more than 20,000 jobs in western PA.
- Local officials say a new exit off I-276 near milepost 331 will spur economic prosperity in and around Norristown. The $165 million project will take eight years to complete.
- Many Pittsburgh residents say they support the idea of increasing the number of Amtrak passenger rail trips to Harrisburg. At present, there is only one train per day, and one proposal would increase it to three.
- Bicycle racks to accommodate commuters at bus stops? That’s why they call it multimodal transportation in Washington, PA, and public transportation ridership is up.
- While traffic fatalities are increasing nationally, Pennsylvania appears to be holding to near-record lows in recent years.
- PA Turnpike CEO Mark Compton says the cashless tolls in the works will make the toll road safer around interchanges.
- Our neighbors to the west want to get in on the driverless car activities, telling us that they plan to begin testing automated vehicles on the Ohio Turnpike within the next 12 months.
- Reminding is of the multimodal nature of our transportation system, 23 airports will make safety upgrades and expand operation opportunities with the assistance of $8.8 million in state investments, Governor Tom Wolf announced.
- Sen. Jim Brewster (D-Allegheny) authored an op-ed article calling attention to the need to replenish the ranks of the State Police in the face of as many as 2,000 trooper retirements within the next three years. He noted that the recent move toward halting diversion of revenue from the Motor License Fund will make it a bigger challenge.
- Following the State Transportation Committee’s approval of PennDOT’s 12-year construction program, the Wilkes-Barre Times leader commended the biennial planning process, particularly the public input aspect of it.
- In national news, Yahoo Finance reports that transportation agencies across the country have sold about $272 billion in bonds this year to fund transportation projects.