Act 44 was enacted by the PA General Assembly and signed into law by Governor Rendell in July 2007.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) began implementing Act 44 by submitting an Expression of Interest in August 2007 to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to participate in the Interstate System Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Pilot Program.
In October 2007, the PTC entered into a 50-year lease agreement with PennDOT.
That same month, a formal Phase I Application was submitted to the FHWA requesting approval to participate in the pilot program and therefore, toll I-80.
In response to the Phase I Application, the FHWA stated in December 2007 that it was neither approving nor rejecting the application. It requested additional information to continue its evaluation.
PennDOT and the PTC resubmitted the tolling application to the FHWA on July 17, 2008 with a letter of support from Governor Rendell.
On September 11, 2008, the FHWA responded that it was unable to move the tolling application forward at this time due to failure to include fair market valuation of the I-80 lease. To review the response click here.
