Dear GOP reps:

OK, I get it. You guys serve in the House and have to face the voters every two years.
Your press conference outside "The Dump" on Thursday touched on many themes heard from Washington Republicans. Mainly, "No," "No new spending," "No new taxes," and "No solutions."

What, exactly, is your solution to the growing parking lot that is Route 422? The stimulus is gone. The federal gas tax has not been increased for decades. Did you call for an increase to the gas tax? Of course not.

In addition to budget deficits in Harrisburg, there is clearly a deficit of political courage as well. Instead of vilifying Commissioner Hoeffel, try offering solutions.
We need the mass transit line, and we need it now. Tolls are simply a user fee. If you don't like it, stay off the road.

Sincerely,

--
Michael Hays
Spring City Councilman

Thank heavens some of our elected officials are speaking and defending us! My thanks go out to my representative "Mike Vereb". First those county commissioners spend 625 million dollars to study an obvious problem, now they want to spend one billion dollars so they can get more of our money but to do what? They say putting toll booths in will relive traffic on 422 but never say by putting the cars on side roads. They never say adding one lane, east bound at tropper interchange will fix the major a.m. delay and could have cost a fraction of the 625 million dollars of the study when all they had to do was get on 422 in the a.m. Rush hour traffic. I believe that those elected officials who proposed toll booths should resign, further if they get jobs/consulting contracts with companies involved in this proposal they should be charged by our DA!

The party of "No" is once again criticizing without offering a solution.

I think it is a disgrace to even consider tolling 422. For one it will result in more traffic and expense to surrounding municipalities as more people would take back roads to avoid the tolls.

I think there are several solutions to the congestion issue (although I don't propose to know how to receive the funding.

1) Add a third lane to and from KOP to Limerick

If the state could find a way to do it for the "wealthy" along 202 corridor then surely they can find a way to do it on 422.

The additional lanes going to and from KOP on 202 had a great impact in relieving some of the congestion.

2) Flexible Business Hours in King of Prussia

The problem with rush hour is that there are certain times where 50 companies release their employees at the same time.

When I worked in King of Prussia previously in the early/mid 90's there was talk of staggered times. Of course some businesses are unable to do it due to customer support and what not. There are a lot of positions within companies that can. Developers, software, sales, etc. are more then capable of telecommuting. If companies are not happy with that arrangement then stagger hours within a department for maximum coverage.

Have the state offer incentives or tax breaks to companies in KOP that would participate in the program. If 3 companies changed the daily hours from 8:00 - 4:00 to 7:30 (and assuming 50 employees each) then that is 150 less cars on the road at the 4:00 rush. Ten companies participate, it's 500 less cars. As a daily commuter to KOP I seldom if ever see anyone carpool.

3) Rail Line

A rail line already exists that could service the entire 422 corridor. While I do not think it would alleviate traffic as much as 3 lanes, it would be a less expensive solution then the construction (and headaches associated with it) it would take for additional lanes.

Thank you, Mike Hays. I also feel that establishing a reliable mass transit link getting us into KOP and points beyond is a better solution than just tolling 422 and leaving all of us to our own devices. I would have liked to see the Representatives who spoke out yesterday offer some kind of alternative solution to tolling the roads, other than just saying, "I don't like it." Something has to be done about the traffic on 422, and soon. The state can't keep wasting money on only patching it up.

I'm sure we'd have plenty of revenue available for projects like this if our Governor would start taxing the natural gas companies that he's allowing to destroy our state in the shale areas. It would be a good start, anyway.

Here we go again, putting additional costs on the poor, average working man & woman who must travel Rt 422 to maintain their livelihood. I am so totally disillusioned with the Republicans at this time, with their, "Just say No" attitudes, but not being able to back the "No's" up with some practical solutions! How about us Seniors! We get no COLA in our Social Security checks and pensions stay the same, if we even are fortunate enough to receive any pensions. Now some elected officials come up with another money-making way to line their pockets rather than help the people who need it most! Thank God for the ones who are taking a stand and speaking out in our defense. We need more of you to run for office! A Fed-Up Senior Citizen

I just read a post at codebluepulse.blogspot.com it is well worth the read.

The solution proposed by the author, Jeff Leflar is sensible and do-able. Have a look and see what you think.

There's a few problems with simply throwing down some overhead wires on the BNSF line. For instance, many 422 commuters work in jobs that are generally in KOP, Main Line, and in areas where existing rail infrastructure does not exist. It's not convenient to ride the train from Royersford to Berwyn or Wayne given the rail grid.

The idea of tolling 422 without using the PTC as the administrative arm is somewhat short-sighted -- it's another bureaucratic agency that is being developed and tasked to manage money. Is that the wisest use of funds?

We all know the commute sucks but to be honest, there are bridges and roads throughout the region that are failing miserably (just look at the one in our backyard). I'd rather see a gas tax hike or a sales tax hike with those monies earmarked to transportation. This way the state is paying to repair what is a statewide problem. Once those monies are used on repair, then let's address traffic issues throughout the state with the leftover cash. Instead of penalizing regional residents for using a highway that was designed with the intent of siphoning traffic off of Ridge Pike, it's better to tax us for driving anywhere...regardless of route and destination. In the end, tolling 422 likely dumps a percentage of traffic into Ridge Pike, Germantown Pike, and Route 724.

Do we need to address the transportation and road issues in this state? Absolutely. It's more than just Route 422.

RE: Dharma...a 3rd lane that's "toll only" would be a good idea. Minneapolis does this with one of their highways and it works relatively well. If folks want to use it they pay a sliding toll based on congestion and time of day (more expensive in the morning, cheaper at night and on weekends).

Everybody wants to drive their gas-guzzling road hog of an SUV down 422, one person to a car, and not expect to pay anything for it. Sorry folks, but lifestyle changes need to be made. I see everybody screaming about tolls and traffic, but nobody ever seems willing to make actual sacrifices to change it.

Guess what, we're reaching peak oil, and if you think tolls are outrageous, wait a few years to see what your gas bill is going to look like.

So while you all hollar and moan about paying a couple buck to drive down the road, I think the politicians should take some of those millions and make more bike lanes and widen some roads for those of us who actually want to be part of the solution, rather than the problem.

In no particular order, the top 10 reasons not to toll 422:

1) Bike lanes don't work in the snow. We can't all ride bikes. I can't take a shower after a 30 mile commute to the office.
2) I bought my GEO Metro to save money so please don't make me pay tolls. (4 cylinders bad, 3 cylinders better - GEO Orwell).
3) Service vehicles and trucks etc. will pass the toll charges along to their customers.
4) You can't tax your way into prosperity.
5) "It's the economy, stupid."
6) Grow the economy with production (that's production, not construction) and there will be enough money for construction.
7) There's no reason on this green earth why a rail system can't be financially self sustaining.
8) Most people would rather ride a train than stare at tailights especially in this high tech age of mobile communication devices in which term "telecommuting" takes on a whole new meaning.
9) This is a multifaceted problem that needs several solutions (rail, "bypass lanes," regional carpooling supported by parking lots and social networks, etc.) and tolls will create more problems than solutions (most traffic jams on toll roads are at the toll booths).
10) Making broad all-inclusive generalizations about people because you don't like the kind of car they drive is indicative of weak thinking.

I want to thank the representatives at the press conference held on Thursday, June 9th, for speaking out against tolling 422.