ROYERSFORD PA – Make no mistake: Jon Frey, a Philadelphia resident who represents a group called the Pennsylvania Transit Expansion Coalition, doesn’t like the idea of imposing tolls on vehicles driving U.S. Route 422 between King of Prussia and the Berks County PA line. “The best course of action is to scrap the current (tolling) proposal and start fresh,” he says in an e-mail to The Post.
Quigley distributed this flyer for his event tonight
But Frey thinks the public needs to make up its own mind and hear from experts and government officials on the tolling issue. So his organization and several others are urging area residents to attend a forum on the topic scheduled to begin tonight (Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2011) at 7 p.m. in Pope John Paul II High School, 181 Rittenhouse Rd., Royersford PA.
- For an earlier Post story on this event, read “Quigley Seeks Crowd As Source Of Comments On 422,” here.
The recommendation to charge drivers fees to travel a 25-mile segment of the east-west highway, and use the resulting dedicated revenue to pay for road improvements and possibly even mass transit there, was made more than a year ago by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC).
State Rep. Tom Quigley, whose 146th District includes Lower Pottsgrove and Limerick townships and the borough of Pottstown, is sponsoring the forum. Quigley’s no fan of tolling either, he made clear this spring during a roadside press conference in Oaks, where he was joined by several other House representatives from the area.
Those willing to consider 422 tolling argue Quigley has stacked the forum’s deck. Two advocates scheduled to speak tonight are Barry Seymour, DVRPC executive director, and Joe Hoeffel, out-going Montgomery County commissioner and former DVRPC board chairman. Four other panelists – state Reps. Marcy Toepel (R-Montgomery), Warren Kampf (R-Montgomery and Chester), and Mike Vereb (R-Montgomery); and Stan Huskey, editor of The (Norristown PA) Times-Herald newspaper, oppose the concept.
Frey has an agenda too, he admits. His group contends passenger rail service in southeastern Pennsylvania needs to be expanded, and its particular emphasis is on reinstating service to SEPTA‘s Fox Chase-Newtown rail line. “Using tolls to fund transit sets a bad example,” he wrote to The Post last week (Sept. 7). “It avoids the transit funding issue, and could mean no funding for transit in areas without tollable roads.”
“This is an interactive event and audience participation is encouraged,” according to Quigley. Those who are unable to attend but would like to submit a question for tonight’s panelists should call his district office, located on East High Street in Sanatoga, at 610-326-9563.
Other advance coverage about the forum:
- Read a story by reporter Evan Brandt, titled “Drivers invited to forum tonight on 422 tolls” and published Tuesday in The (Pottstown PA) Mercury nespaper, here.
Related (to U.S. Route 422 Corridor planning):
- Agendas Abound Tonight At 422 Forum In Royersford
- Quigley Seeks Crowd As Source Of Comments On 422
- State Road Tolls A Future Funding Solution, Official Agrees
- Report Expected To Suggest Law For Road Toll Authority
- I-95 A Big Problem; 422 A Solvable Problem (With Tolls)
- Even With Tolling, 422 Might Be Free (For A Few Miles)
- County Candidates Brown, Castor Oppose 422 Tolling
- Quigley, Other Reps Questioning 422 Tolls Proposal
- 422 Toll Proposal Wins Some PA Commission Backers
- Exec Highway Group To Hear Rt. 422 Tolling As ‘Model’
- 422 Questions Answered, For Your Viewing Pleasure
- In 422 Tolling, Planners Say, Studying Doesn’t Make It So
- Former Reporter Asks Commissioners To Support 422 Tolls
- Online Survey Seeks Opinions On Local Road Congestion
- 422 Plus Project Plays Offense With FAQs Debut
- Peering Into The Future? Gov’s Bridge Proposal And 422
- Another Township Endorses 422 Master Plan
- Neighboring Limerick Supervisors Endorse 422 Master Plan
- Understand 422 Plan Endorsement, Lower Pottsgrove Advised
- Lower Pottsgrove Holds On 422 Plan Endorsement
- Engineers Claim PA Roads Worse Now Than In 2006
- Tuesday Session Tackles Funding For 422 And Elsewhere
- Tolls, Lower Pottsgrove Station Part Of 422 Plan
- Pending Decision May Affect Route 422 Projects
- Last Day For Your Say On Route 422 Plan
- Notebook Worthy (Aug. 24, 2009)
- Consultants Express Interest In Studying 422
- Don’t Like 422 Tolling? Website Wants Your Alternative
- Truckers Alerted On Highway Partnerships Bill
- In 422 Debate, Time A Hindrance And Help
- Notebook Worthy (June 29, 2009)
- Growth, Planners Say, Is 422’s Growing Problem
- Tech Used To Draw For 422 Meetings
- Route 422 Toll Meetings Next Week
- 422 Repairs, Delays Start Tuesday
- 422 Proposal, Like Traffic, Creeps Ahead
- Got A Route 422 Idea? Time To Air It
- Train Service On The Front Burner Once More
A few issues:
Why is 422 different from 202, 309, the Blue Route, the Expressway, or many many other roadways in PA that have or are undergoing major repairs without any thought to tolling?
What exactly is PennDOT’S allocation for this roadway per annum, and is it based upon the traffic load? My position is that the traffic load (all of whom pay gas taxes, license and registration fees, etc) should indicate that this roadway deserves more funding than others that are less traveled.
Why is DVRPC advocating a tolling? That is not their role. A planning organization and adviser, perhaps they could have realistically foreseen the sprawl they created by not advising communities in the area to maintain open space, agricultural areas, etc, instead of remaining silent while uncontrolled sprawl took over our immediate landscape.
Why are DVRPC funds being spent on this advocacy and how much of their budget is involved on this one issue? I suggest they get back to planning and advising, and not advocacy for a tolling function and the ensuing money perhaps to be spent on toll operations.
I remain adamantly opposed to any 422 trolling. There are so many roadways, bridges etc throughout the state that are in the process or recently renovated, none of which have even been proposed for tolling. Again what is the budget allocation for 422 and who determined it and what factors are utilized to determine it?
Go to the meeting, people, or plan on spending money daily to line the pockets of these so called advocates …
DVRPC has its own agenda, that’s why. This agency is corrupt. The state needs to stop funding these clowns who have now wasted a half-million dollars doing studies for something nobody wanted. Did they even ask us before doing this? NO! And if they did ask, they ignored us.
How do I know this? Look at how they treat people that go to their open meetings!!! Barry Seymour needs to be fired!
Watch this!!!!
I was totally agahst at Joe Hoeffels advocacy of this idea.
I think there are many out there who view this effort as a way to blow the beaver dam and let the flood of tolling begin throughout the state. Make no mistake if this passes we will se it replicated in many areas and we will all be feeling it in our wallets as travel bcomes more and more costly as vital roadways and routes are tolled.
The real qustion is why is Gas Tax money being used to fund the PA State Police? Certainly this vital effort needs fudning but it shuld come from the General Revenue funds. By skimming 300Million annually from the gas tax revenues there are many fewer dollars available to PENNDOT.
PENNDOT needs a strong internal Inspector General program to police the organizations its actvities especially its contracting efforts. An example of good PENNDOT work can be seen out between Dnever and Lancaster where 222 was recently rehabed. Similar to 422 there was no hue and cry for tolling. At the interchange with 30 major overpasses and bridges where built akin to LA freeway style. Again no tolling needed. Here in the Philadelphia region our road improvement efforts ar overpriced and drawn out.
The 422 Betzwood bridge was recently renovated for lane widening. Why now two years later is the bridge being touted as being on the “endaangered” list. Where were the Engineers on that job when the agreed to an additional lane and the accompanying additional weight burder to the bridge. Something smells in this process.
As has been said why do the people in our area need to be tolld for road improvements while those is Brandywine, Blue Bell anothers served by 309, 202 and varous other roadways recently rehabbed not have to even consider tolling. Are we economicly and politically without enough influence or clout.
The expansion of the rail system while admirable will alleviate the average driver transport problems. You must still get to the pickup train station and from the deposit train station to your place of employment. There’s no time efficient way that this planning addresses that. On a -25 day in January you cannot walk to you place of employment. How do your get to the office and back. Commuter lines that share freight lines have always afoul when freight issues spring up. For a few thousand riders the value is not there.
Those of you that have ben to Disney World have seen the Monorail there. The footprint of that system is miniml yet it provides a fast and easy way about he multitude of parks in the resort. DVRPC simply poo-poohs a notin that a rail line might run down the middle of 422. Yet it ccould be done given the current space available. The cries about rights of way are simply not realistic as the majority of uch a line would blend in easily. Using that rout not the old freight RR line one could run to several stations through KOP. With success it could later be expanded down 202 and 76 into the city. But that would require real planning. BART and Washingtons METRO are examples where exclusive systems for commuters efficiently move tens of thousands daily. That might be a better idea.
Keep up the good work people we need to solve the funding shortfall but perhaps by eliminating the rail element, using funds for their allocated purpose, and scrutinizing was te fraud and abuse within PENNDOT we might eek out enough to do this job. Also convince the Governer that PENNDOT’s budget needs to get the proposed boost in funds.