New Jersey And Pennsylvania Thinking Creatively About Infrastructure Funding
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - State governments on both sides of the Delaware River are attempting to come to grips with a worsening problem: the need to maintain and even improve transportation infrastructure despite the lack of predictable funding to do it.
And it's no easy task.
Where's the money coming from? Well, there has been media speculation regarding imposing tolls on roads like Rt. 422 in Montgomery County, Pa. or even I-95 in Pennsylvania.
New Jersey may be tapping into funds not going to a now-cancelled tunnel project under the Hudson River (see related story).
Barry Seymour, with the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, doesn't expect anything to move forward in the short term.
"There's a lot of work that has to happen, both in terms of technical work, understanding the financials, and the politics," he tells KYW Newsradio.
It's the politics that could cause the biggest problem. Neither Pennsylvania governor Tom Corbett nor his New Jersey counterpart, Chris Christie, have made their priorities clear.
Still, Seymour says, there is a need for consistent funding just to keep the current system in shape.
Reported by David Madden, KYW Newsradio 1060.
