A Road More Traveled

To anyone reading this, I hope you have a happy and restful turkey day with family and/or friends. And if you have to embark anywhere for that purpose, I hope you have safe travels en route to your Thanksgiving celebration.

If you live anywhere near where I’m typing this at the moment, it’s possible that you may have to get from point A to point B via the Pennsylvania Turnpike, which is the very first superhighway constructed in this country.

As of yesterday, there has been some discussion of exploring issues related to a public/private partnership of the turnpike as a means to raise funds for highway and infrastructure repair throughout the state. I think exploring this is a good idea.

Aside from doing this to try and make a dent in a $1.7 billion gap in funding for the repair I mentioned above, there are several other reasons why I believe that we need an infusion of new problem solving ideas here, to say nothing of generating revenue.

- We need to find some way to establish oversight of the PA Turnpike Commission, if for no other reason then the fact that I’d like to know how the money collected in toll revenue is being spent. I know that Governor Ed Rendell, who strongly supports this move, is on the commission, and I trust him to do the right thing, but it would be nicer if we had more to go on here than his good faith.

- Perhaps such a partnership could be used to speed up the glacial pace of Penndot turnpike construction. I don’t believe that there is a repair or expansion project between the Norristown and Valley Forge, Pa. exits at the moment, but this is a rare occurrence.

- It’s difficult to comprehend how disgusting the rest stops are on this road unless you’ve driven extensively in other states. Maryland seems to do a good job of maintaining clean and well-presented rest stops with lots of amenities, but the stops on the New York State Thruway are easily the best that I’ve ever seen. Anything that could improve this for the Pa. Turnpike would be welcome as far as I’m concerned.

I know that anything involving privatization involves, ultimately, more money out of my pocket, and that doesn’t make me happy. However, if this is what it takes to bring the turnpike up to speed in a number of ways (sorry for the pun), then I would say that at least partial privatization is an idea whose time has come.