Township commissioners oppose tolls on highway bridge

Scott Township commissioners on Tuesday agreed to send a letter to state officials opposing the state Department of Transportation’s proposal to toll the bridge over Route 50 in Bridgeville.

In February, PennDOT announced a public-private partnership that would have private firms design and replace nine aging bridges as well as agree to maintain them for up to 30 years. In exchange, the state would charge tolls of $1 to $2 to pay for the work. The tolls could begin as soon as in 2½ years.

PennDOT has not decided whether tolling would begin when it signs contracts for the start of the work or after the projects have been completed.

“We need to make sure everyone knows Scott Township commissioners are not in favor of this,” said Commissioner Bill Wells. “It would make a disaster in Scott Township.”

Commissioners agreed that township manager Denise Fitzgerald would draft a letter, which the commissioners would then sign and send to the appropriate officials.

Scott joins Bridgeville, Collier, Upper St. Clair and South Fayette in opposition to the tolls.

The interchange at the Route 50 bridge was built in 1965 and averages about 87,000 vehicles per day. Additionally, PennDOT wants to add an additional lane in each direction on Interstate 79 around the interchange with plans to make the interstate three lanes in each direction from Bridgeville to the area north of Southpointe.

In other business, commissioners agreed to require anyone wanting to work as summer help with the township’s public works department to have received the COVID-19 vaccine.

Those applying for summer work are typically high school or college age and must be supervised by a member of the public works department, which means they would have to ride in the same vehicle as the employee.

Last year, the township suspended its summer help program due to the pandemic.

Ms. Fitzgerald said the summer help usually starts around the end of May, so there is time for applicants to be vaccinated because the state recently opened up vaccinations for anyone over the age of 18.

Commissioners also agreed to place a temporary speed hump on Raven Drive.

Commissioner Angela Wateska requested the hump until a permanent one can be installed, saying that some residents were “very concerned” about speeding cars on the street. A temporary speed hump had previously been placed on the street and will now be reinstalled.

Tom Kelley, director of public services for the township, said it’s a long process to install a permanent speed hump as a traffic study must first be conducted on the street.