Tolling Interstate 80 is a good deal for Pennsylvania and for the I-80 corridor. It will create jobs, provide desperately needed road repairs and help keep motorists safe.

In 2007, Gov. Ed Rendell moved to address the deterioration of the state's roads and bridges and to provide local mass transit agencies with a dedicated and stable revenue stream. The governor proposed taxing oil company profits, something the Legislature rejected. A bipartisan compromise then was reached and the Legislature approved Act 44.

Tolls on the Pennsylvania Turnpike would rise and I-80 would be leased to the Turnpike Commission, which would toll the road. In turn, the Turnpike Commission would pay the state $2.5 billion in quarterly installments (with the last installment to be paid in April 2010) and $900 million annually thereafter.

These funds would be dedicated to fixing Pennsylvania roads and bridges and financing mass transit. After 2010 about 60 percent of the revenue would go to roads and 40 percent to mass transit. All of the money from tolling I-80, though, an estimated $400 million a year, would be devoted to the road system.

This compromise was approved after a long and public debate. Unfortunately, for the I-80 part of the law to go into effect, approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation is necessary. To date, approval has not been forthcoming, in part due to political opposition from officials in the I-80 corridor.

These efforts are short-sighted and irresponsible, and here's why.

The Turnpike Commission promised to rebuild I-80 and has committed $2.5 billion over 10 years to the project. This would create approximately 72,000 badly needed jobs, many of them in the I-80 corridor.

Even more important is repairing our roads and bridges.

Pennsylvania leads the nation in structurally deficient bridges -- nearly 6,000, according to PennDOT -- and everyone knows the roads need plenty of work.

If I-80 is not tolled, PennDOT will lose nearly half of its increased funding under Act 44 -- $400 million annually. This directly would translate into less money for repairs, maintenance and reconstruction. The result would be more rough roads and more structurally deficient bridges. Among other things, this would mean more bridge closures, as bridges deteriorate to the point they are unsafe.

Losing the I-80 tolls would pose a direct threat to the safety of the motoring public. To date, Pennsylvania has been spared a devastating bridge collapse. Minnesota was not so lucky. In August 2007, a structurally deficient bridge on I-35 collapsed into the Mississippi River, taking the lives of 13 motorists and injuring more than 100.

As the I-35 bridge failure shows, there are real costs, including lives, from failing to adequately maintain roads and bridges.

Unfortunately, keeping motorists safe requires money and it has to come from somewhere. It is completely irresponsible for public officials to oppose tolling I-80 without having $400 million in hand to replace the lost funds from Act 44.

To improve roads, create jobs and protect motorists, Act 44 needs to be fully implemented and I-80 tolled.

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