"It is an expensive project and the money for large transportation projects does not exist right now," according to Kate Phillips, Press Secretary to Governor Rendell. Congressman Jim Greenwood has also indicated that discretionary funds, which theoretically he could earmark for the project, would not be available within the context of the Surface Transportation Bill currently being discussed in Congress. The bill, which covers a six-year timeframe, is the subject of intense discussion as the federal government attempts to bring the enormous budget deficit under control.

Although it is currently estimated that Pennsylvania will receive seven billion dollars of federal monies over the life of the bill, the exact amount has yet to be determined. Control of those monies is through PennDOT, and thus, ultimately the Governor's Office, which, in the past, has attempted to provide a level of equity in highway spending between the various regions of the state. Projects presently being discussed in the Greater Philadelphia region alone could eat up the entirety of the federal allocation and still fall far short in terms of the funding needed to complete them.

With the enormous cost overruns that are now being projected, the 202 Expressway joins the enormous congestion generated by the Exton Bypass, the giant sinkholes in King of Prussia and the pending environmental disaster at Skytop (caused by the construction of Route 99), as testaments to PennDOT's failure to adequately evaluate major projects throughout the state. Although in the case of US 202, the obvious question is how did PennDOT blow the cost estimates by a more than factor of two, the real issue is more complex. That is, how to deal with the institutionalized failure on the part of PennDOT to adequately and in many cases, truthfully, evaluate the impact of projects that it proposes? Consider that:

•The Blue Route reached its projected 20th year volume before the end of its first year of operation. Traffic backups of 10 miles or more are nearly a weekly occurrence and congestion on Routes 3 and 30 are as bad as ever. This is exactly what project opponents said would happen but PennDOT denied would occur.

•The promised traffic relief from the Exton Bypass "turned the town into a parking lot" less than a week after it opened. This is exactly what project opponents said would happen but PennDOT denied would occur.

•PennDOT needed to build an on-site grout plant to fill the sinkholes at the 202 interchange construction in King of Prussia because they could not truck enough material to fill in the gapping holes that developed. The project exceeded its projected costs by over $100 million because PennDOT dismissed the warnings of area residents as frivolous.

•Despite warnings of multiple environmental problems and heavy opposition to the project, PennDOT blew off the top of a mountain when building Route 99 in Central Pennsylvania. In doing so, they unleashed a potential environmental disaster when they exposed nearly one million cubic yards of highly acidic iron pyrite which now threatens streams and water supplies. Gary Byron, assistant regional director for the state Department of Environmental Protection, said, "It's the worst I've seen in these 14 counties -- and I've been here 27 years. The bottom line is, PennDOT's environmental-impact work for I-99 missed this geologic formation."

Opponents to the Section 700 of US 202 Expressway project are correct in pointing to the projected cost increase as but one other area where PennDOT has failed in its public obligation. Expressway opponents have long maintained that significant errors were made in the EIS and that PennDOT had gone out of its way to hide those errors from the public. These include:

•Purposefully manipulating the traffic projection model. (Admitted by PennDOT in court documents.)

•Over projecting the future traffic volumes on US 202. (Confirmed by DVRPC actual traffic counts.)

•Placing nearly 14,000 vehicles per day on a dead-end street in the center of Buckingham. (Admitted by PennDOT.)

•"Losing" over 6,000 vehicles on the existing 202 Bypass between Main Street and Poole's Corner. (Admitted by PennDOT who attributed the loss to driveways and small streets not on their model. Unfortunately for them, this is a limited access road with no driveways or side streets.)

•Failing to take into account the impact of over one million square feet of new commercial construction on PA 611.

•Failing to take into account the impact of over one million square feet of new commercial construction in Montgomeryville.

•The list goes on and on. If you have an hour, please see "A Review of 202 Study Data and Methodology."

Although environmentalists have often taken issue with PennDOT's evaluative process, it is clearly time for the Governor's office to do so as well. If there is a bright side to be found in PennDOT's growing list of debacles, it is that Pennsylvania now has a Secretary of Transportation who seems to have the wisdom and integrity to tackle the problem. We wish him great success. With literally billions of tax dollars in play, it is incumbent that these dollars be spent wisely and with a full understanding of their impact.

Question of the Day…

The following statement is true. Select the conclusion(s) that make the most sense to you.

Over 1.3 million square feet of new Class A office space has been proposed in Central Bucks along the 202 corridor SINCE the expressway was approved. This is 200% more than currently exists in the entire region.

A. People in these new businesses won't have any desire to live in Central Bucks and they will all commute. This will cause a significant increase in local traffic.

B. People in these new businesses won't have any desire to live in Central Bucks and thus, they will all commute by helicopter and have no impact on local traffic.

C. People in these new business will want to live near their work. Thus, we will have a need for more houses and more schools for the new children.

D. No new business will come. Existing businesses will move to the new space but it will not cause a problem as they abandon their current locations.

E. No new business will come. Existing businesses will move to the new space but it will cause a problem as they abandon their current locations. Vacancy rates will soar and thus the local economy owners will be negatively impacted.

F. There is no relationship between the 202 expressway and the incredible commercial growth along its corridor since its approval.

G. You would have to be asleep not to see the link between the expressway and the explosive growth in commercial development.