PennDOT names plans for bailout

HARRISBURG - PennDOT Friday released a list of highway, bridge and public transportation projects that could be funded if Congress passes a federal stimulus plan that includes money set aside for transportation infrastructure.

PennDOT's list includes about $1.5 billion in spending on transportation projects statewide.

The money would come from the $825 billion stimulus plan proposed Thursday by Democrats in the U.S. House. Under the federal plan, $90 billion would be earmarked for infrastructure spending, with about $30 billion for highways and bridges.

Pennsylvania usually gets about 4.3 percent of federal funds disbursed among states, PennDOT spokesman Rich Kirkpatrick said. That comes to about $1.3 billion for the commonwealth.

Kirkpatrick said the majority of candidate projects involve preservation of bridges, highways and public transit systems in need of repair rather than building new ones.

About half of the projects have been approved for funding already as part of the 12-year Transportation Improvement Program, which is in its fourth year. For the other half, PennDOT will work with local agencies to try to approve the work.

House Transportation Committee Chairman Joseph Markosek, D-Allegheny, called the potential stimulus a ''very good thing,'' but he warned that it would provide only a short-term solution to what he called long-term problems.

Last year, the federal government turned down the state's request to allow tolling of Interstate 80, preventing access to a key source of funding. Markosek said he will work to put that issue back into play.

Rep. Rick Geist, R-Altoona, who serves as minority chairman of the House Transportation Committee, said none of the Legislature's transportation committee chairmen had input on the list. He also cautioned that the projects are not yet finalized.

"We have no idea what strings are going to be attached [to the stimulus dollars],'' Geist said.

Under PennDOT's plan, the stimulus money would be split almost evenly, with about $750 million spent on public transportation and the other half on bridges and highways.

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, Philadelphia's public transit system, would receive about $404 million, and about $188 million would fund the Port Authority of Allegheny County in Pittsburgh.

A vote in the U.S. House on the bill is expected the week of Jan. 26.