The calamity of illegal semi-truck drivers on the road

The calamity of illegal semi-truck drivers on the road: A court stepped in and paused a new rule to limit which immigrants can obtain CDLs, because apparently, all the death and destruction they keep wreaking on our highways isn’t a compelling argument.

CDL facts, fiction, and fraud

CDL facts, fiction, and fraud: There is no way Harjinder Singh legally passed the Commercial Driver's License test. 

Why Do Truck Drivers Need to Speak English?

Why Do Truck Drivers Need to Speak English? The need for a single common language for truck drivers should be obvious, by now if not before.  And in the United States, that common language is, and must remain, English.

Newspaper: Route 422 tolling plan doomed, so why keep pushing?

There is no public or political support for tolling Route 422 in Southeastern Pennsylvania, so why do a handful of Big Government Democrats keep beating a dead horse?

422 tolling plan doomed, so why keep pushing? - pottsmerc.com

State Police Inspections Find Most Child Safety Seats Improperly Installed

State Police Inspections Find Most Child Safety Seats Improperly Installed

Area lawmakers oppose Route 422 tolling

Five Republican members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives whose districts border Route 422 say they will oppose any efforts to turn the highway into a toll road between Pottstown and King of Prussia.

The lawmakers said the tolling plan introduced by Democrat Joe Hoeffel will do little to ease traffic congestion on Route 422 but will force more traffic onto local roads.

Area lawmakers oppose Route 422 tolling (video) - pottsmerc.com

SE PA Lawmakers Reject Route 422 Tolls

Five state representatives from legislative districts along Route 422 in Montgomery, Chester and Berks counties held a press conference Thursday afternoon along the busy highway to announce their opposition to a proposal to toll the four-lane highway. The lawmakers said the tolls would force traffic onto local roads and there is no guarantee that passenger rail service would ever be built to ease congestion on Route 422. The Republican lawmakers expressing opposition to the plan being pushed by Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, include Reps. Tom Quigley, Mike Vereb, Warren Kampf, Marcy Toepel and David Maloney.

Key PA Senator: Route 422 Tolls 'Premature'

The man who will have a lot to say about whether Route 422 in Southeastern Pennsylvania ever becomes a toll road says any talk of tolling the highway is "premature."

Sen. John Rafferty Jr. (R-Montgomery), chairman of the powerful State Senate Transportation Committee, released the following statement Thursday regarding recent news accounts that Route 422 was being considered as a future toll road:

"There is no legislation pending in either the House or the Senate calling for the tolling of any specific roadways in Pennsylvania. And any thoughts or considerations of implementing tolling on any specific roads in the state to generate transportation funding are wholly premature. As chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, I have no plans to move anything adding tolling to Route 422 or any state roadway. In fact, we are currently in a holding pattern until the Governor's Transportation Funding Advisory Committee (TFAC) makes it recommendations later this summer. Even after that report is delivered, the Committee's recommendations are just suggested courses of action, not proposals that would necessarily become law."

Rafferty's 44th State Senate District includes many of the communities along the Route 422 corridor in Berks, Chester and Montgomery counties and it's unlikely any plan to toll Route 422 will gain traction without his support.

Lawmakers to respond to Route 422 tolling proposal

Four Southeastern Pennsylvania state legislators will hold a press conference Thursday to discuss the proposed tolling of Route 422.

The feasibility study by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission supports a plan to toll the roadway between Pottstown and King of Prussia despite widespread opposition from area residents and lawmakers.

Four members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from Montgomery and Chester counties will weigh in on the report's findings during a 2 p.m. press conference at the 422 Business Center in Oaks.

Participating in the event are Reps. Warren Kampf (R-Chester/Montgomery), Marcy Toepel (R-Montgomery), Tom Quigley (R-Montgomery) and Mike Vereb (R-Montgomery).

All four have expressed reservations in the past about tolling Route 422.

For more about the tolling plan, check out this recent article in The Mercury.

Newspaper: CBO's toll-road fib

Obama and Congressional Democrats keep trying to find new ways to take more of your money. The latest scheme is a vehicle-mile tax.

From an editorial in The Washington Times on why this new tax would hurt everyone

There's no such thing as a "nonuser" of the road network. America has 208 million licensed drivers out of a population of 240 million of driving age. Only a handful of people depend on the bicycles, buses and trolleys that meet with liberal approval. Everyone benefits from having food and other goods delivered by truck. Motorists are one of the most overtaxed groups in America, and the automobile has done more to enable this country's economic success than any other invention.

EDITORIAL: CBO's toll-road fib - Washington Times

Pa. gets 'F' for driving laws

A national report card on safe driving laws ranks Pennsylvania among the worst states.

Pa. gets 'F' for driving laws - pottsmerc.com

Pennsylvania Turnpike makes U-turn

Here's what we do know: Tolls on the Pennsylvania Turnpike will go up Jan. 2, 2011.

Up until today, motorists who pay cash would not know how much the tolls would be because the bureaucrats at the Turnpike Commission decided to print tickets without prices on them.

That controversial (and stupid) decision has been overturned.

But tolls are still going up thanks to a plan pushed a couple of years ago by Gov. Ed Rendell and Democrats in the state Legislature.

Turnpike makes U-turn, decides to print tolls on tickets - pottsmerc.com

Are you kidding me? PA motorists say they are safe drivers

As someone who has been driving Pennsylvania roads for about 30 years, I beg to differ with a new survey that says the majority of Pennsylvania motorists consider themselves "safe drivers."

I suspect that 3,800 Pennsylvania drivers responded to the online survey conducted by PennDOT were fibbing on some of the questions.

I think Pennsylvania drivers are among the worst in the country.

And here's a telling statistic from the survey to back me up: Pennsylvania in 2009 had 35 percent more fatal crashes than New Jersey, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

And I think N.J. drivers are the worst in the nation. So what does that say about Pennsylvania drivers?

Are you a safe driver? Your fellow motorists say they are. | PoconoRecord.com

A Mid-Summer Night's Nightmare in PA

Annual transportation drama now playing in Harrisburg

By Lowman S. Henry

Gov. Ed Rendell will leave office in January, but travelers on the Pennsylvania Turnpike will only just be starting to pay for the legacy of profligate spending he will leave behind.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission recently announced that tolls on America’s first (and now most expensive) superhighway will rise by 10 percent effective January 2, 2011. Those of us who use E-Z Pass will see only a 3 percent increase. This is just the latest of what is expected to be a series of fare increases.

The worst part about the ever-rising cost of driving on the turnpike is that revenue generated by the higher fares is not being reinvested in the highway itself. Instead some $450 million per year is being diverted to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to pay for the upkeep of other roads and bridges.

Regular fare hikes would be easier to accept if the money were being invested in the Turnpike.
Although some upgrades to the Pennsylvania Turnpike are already under way, many badly needed capital improvement projects remain unfunded. Not the least of these are replacing the turnpike’s aging tunnels, the need to expand the entire highway to a minimum of six lanes — eight in higher traffic areas; and the continued upgrade of interchanges and service plazas. These projects languish as $450 million per year goes elsewhere.

How did we get into this mess? You can blame it on mass transit and urban politics. The Rendell Administration has poured billions into the bloated and inefficient mass transit systems in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. This has created a domino effect that deprived PennDOT of needed revenue, and led to the passage of Act 44 which set up the diversion of turnpike funds that have in turn prompted the recently announced toll increases.

Transportation funding has become an annual farce in Pennsylvania. The script is always the same: In the opening scene, the state’s largest mass transit agencies — Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA) in Philadelphia and the Port Authority Transit (PAT) in Pittsburgh — announce they have hefty budget deficits.

In Scene 2, SEPTA and PAT threaten massive lay-offs and service cuts. Gov. Ed Rendell rides to their rescue in Scene 3 by diverting federal highway funds to the mass transit agencies.
The curtain rises on Act II with the governor declaring the state’s roads and bridges are crumbling. He declares the state to be in the clutches of a transportation crisis. This leads him to call in Scene 2 for increases in taxes and fees. Conflict arises in Scene 3 when the Legislature refuses to raise taxes and fees, which are unpopular with their constituents. They point out the money isn’t there to fix highways because the governor spent the federal highway money on mass transit. And that is where the drama suddenly ends: with no resolution and a guaranteed sequel next year.

Gov. Rendell is once again planning to “flex” federal highway money to mass transit. And, of course, he is again calling for the legislature to raise taxes and fees. The governor has given the legislature options, magnanimously agreeing to sign into law whatever tax and fee hikes they might select from a menu of revenue enhancements he has presented to them.

At no point does Ed Rendell, or for that matter anybody else, begin to address the underlying cause of Pennsylvania’s transportation dilemma: the fact billions are squandered by SEPTA and PAT due to inefficiencies, bloated bureaucracies and unreasonable labor union contracts.
Ed Rendell is captive of the Philadelphia political forces that prop up SEPTA. He would have taxpayers from across the state, and turnpike travelers, pay more rather than take the politically painful route of forcing SEPTA and PAT to clean up their acts.

And so the curtain will close on the Rendell Administration with no resolution to our transportation drama. Perhaps the next governor will come into office with a different script. In the meantime, our roads and bridges continue to deteriorate while turnpike tolls continue to rise. And that, will be Ed Rendell’s enduring legacy to we the people of Penn’s Woods.

Lowman S. Henry is chairman & CEO of the Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research Inc., a Harrisburg-based non-profit, educational foundation, and host of the American Radio Journal.

End free ride for PA Turnpike wokers?

Who says there's no such thing as a free ride?

Some 2,100 Pennsylvania Turnpike employees ride the toll road for free, even when they're on vacation, according to published reports.

A Pennsylvania lawmaker wants to end the perk.

"Were going to have make some changes on that, whether they like it or not," Senate Transportation Committee Chairman John Rafferty, R-Chester County, told The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

The free rides are especially galling while the state faces a fiscal crisis.

"I think that's part of the problem with our agency heads," Rafferty said. "Over the years, they've become so insulated that they don't realize that the public does not want that type of use or misuse."

Read the full story at the newspaper's website.

The Rendell Carnival Is Back!

See related editorial, "Raise gas taxes?: Gov. Shameless," at The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review website.

Route 422 to close in both directions on Sunday

Route 422 will be closed in both directions and detoured between the Route 202 and Route 23 interchanges in Upper Merion and Tredyffrin townships on Sunday from 6 to 10 a.m., according to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

The road closing, which is dependent on the weather, is to allow for the resetting of overhead utility wires by PECO Energy, PennDOT says.

During the Route 422 closure, the following detours will be in effect:

Route 422 East Detour: Eastbound Route 422 traffic will exit at Route 23; turn right at Route 23; turn left at Gulph Road; and take Gulph Road to Route 202;

Route 202 North to Route 422 West Detour: Northbound Route 202 traffic will turn left at Gulph Road; take Gulph Road to Route 23; turn right at Route 23 and then turn left at the ramp to Route 422 West; and

Interstate 76 East/West and Route 202 South to Route 422 West Detour: I-76 and southbound Route 202 motorists will take the ramp to the Swedesford Road exit; turn right at Swedesford Road; turn left at South Warner Road; turn left at Gulph Road; turn right at Route 23 and turn left at the ramp to Route 422 West.

Route 422 motorists are advised to allow additional time for travel Sunday morning during this operation, which is dependent on the weather.

PennDOT reminds motorists they can log on to 511pa.com or call 511 from any phone to check traffic conditions on major highways before heading out.

Bridge in Berks County closed for emergency repairs

From PennDOT Engineering District 5:

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) announced today that the Route 562 Bridge over Antietam Creek in St. Lawrence Borough, Berks County, is closed for emergency repairs.

An inspection of the bridge yesterday showed significant scour under one of the bridge abutments.

It is estimated the PA 562 Bridge over Antietam Creek will remain closed for two-to-three weeks. During the closure, traffic will be restricted on PA 562 between Prospect and Bingaman streets. The posted detour will take traffic on Business Route 422 and Oley Turnpike Road. Motorists are encouraged to allow extra time when traveling through the area.

The PA 562 Bridge is a concrete T-beam bridge built in 1926, and is 31 feet long and 33 feet nine inches wide. This area of PA 562 has an average daily traffic of 9,022 vehicles.

PennDOT Invites Motorists to Take Online Highway Safety Survey

PennDOT Invites Motorists to Take Online Highway Safety Survey

Route 422 to close for 4 hours Sunday

If you're planning a trip toward King of Prussia or Philly on Sunday, be warned. You're going to have to find an alternate route.

From the Pottstown Mercury:

Route 422 in both directions will be shut down from 6 to 10 a.m. Sunday, June 27, between the Route 202 and 23 interchanges in Upper Merion and Tredyffrin, PennDOT announced Thursday. PECO is resetting overhead utility wires.

The following detours will be in place during the closure:

Route 422 East Detour: Eastbound Route 422 traffic will exit at Route 23, turn right at Route 23, turn left at Gulph Road and take Gulph Road to Route 202

Route 202 North to Route 422 West Detour: Northbound Route 202 traffic will turn left at Gulph Road, take Gulph Road to Route 23, turn right at Route 23 and then turn left at the ramp to Route 422 west

Interstate 76 East/West and Route 202 South to Route 422 West Detour: I-76 and southbound Route 202 motorists will take the ramp to the Swedesford Road exit, turn right at Swedesford Road, turn left at South Warner Road, turn left at Gulph Road, turn right at Route 23 and turn left at the ramp to Route 422 west

Motorists are advised to allow additional travel time during the road closure.

Check The Mercury's Web site for updates.