Drivers to pay $5 per vehicle for bridges

Fee will be added to annual state registration

WEST CHESTER>> Vehicles owners in Chester County will be required to pay an additional $5 per car or truck for state registration in order to help fund bridge repairs and reconstruction, according to a vote Thursday by the county commissioners.

The vote on a resolution to adopt the local use fee was unanimous, and came without comment by the three-member board at its formal meeting. Such a fee wasmade possible by the General Assembly in 2014 for transportation related projects.

As explained by county Director of Facilities and Parks Steve Fromnick at a work session Tues-

day, the funds collected by the state Department of Transportation when vehicles are registered each year or two will be set aside in an account for use by the county only.

The county will then use those funds, estimated to be about$2.2 million, for the reconstruction, repair, or renovation of county bridges, many of which are designated as either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. The funds are restricted, and cannot be used for other general fund purposes.

According to figures discussed by Fromnick, the county owns 94 bridges, including two that are inter-county. The life span of those structures is 50 years, and the facilities department has a goal of restoring or replacing two bridges per year.

As it stands, 57 of the bridges, or 61 percent, are over 75 years old, and 31 over 100 years old. Of the 94, 34 are structurally deficient, and 61 functionally obsolete. (Although those classifications are listed, they do not mean the bridges cannot support car and truck traffic.)

Because of high costs — the commissioners on Thursday coincidentally approved a bid to repair one bridge over the White Clay Creek at a cost of $753,895 — the county has beenable tomeet its goals of repair or reconstructing two of its bridges each year only 12 times since 1980. In 12 other years, no bridge work was done at all, according to Fromnick’s figures.

The county does get state and federal funds for bridge construction, but that totals only about $850,000 a year for maintenance and small repairs. That does not include an anticipated $700,000 from Marcellus Shale funds, and according to Fromnick would not provide enough funds for extensive rehabilitation or replacement of bridges.

With the new vehicle registration funds, the county will be able to raise its bridge construction totals to 1.5 per year, he said.

The vehicle registration fee will apply to all cars, trucks, and other road vehicles. Not covered are construction vehicles that must be registered but are not for over-the-road use.