Specter, LaHood drive talk on transportation

The new secretary of the federal department of transportation came for his first visit to the Lehigh Valley. He mostly talked about roads but the article is below.

Specter, LaHood drive talk on transportation
They meet with local leaders to discuss issues, projects but make no promises for money.

By Dan Hartzell OF THE MORNING CALL

August 25, 2009


Rail advocate Paul Marin chugged along with his ongoing plea for the restoration of passenger rail service to the Lehigh Valley. Airport director George Doughty touted the need for federal funding for the nation's airports. Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski pitched the importance of money for his beloved American Parkway project.

There was nothing new in those appeals, offered at the America on Wheels museum in Allentown Monday. The big difference was on the receiving end: U.S. Transportation Secretary Raymond LaHood was the listener, in person.

Introduced by Sen. Arlen Specter as ''the man with the money,'' LaHood visited the city with Specter after the two made similar stops in Norristown, Elizabethtown and Camp Hill earlier in the day.

The events were part of a kind of summer tour for Specter, a newly minted Democrat who will be opposed in next spring's primary by U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak of Delaware County. In the last three months, Specter has appeared with four other Obama Cabinet secretaries on different stops in Philadelphia and in Somerset County.

In Allentown, Specter and LaHood met with elected officials and transportation planners. In a roundtable discussion that amounted mostly to repeated pleas for more funding from Washington -- or at least to keep expected allocations from being cut -- neither official made significant pledges of new money for specific projects.

Rather, they talked broadly about the vital need for transportation improvements, including American Parkway, the ongoing Route 412 corridor work in Bethlehem, and Route 22 upgrades in the Lehigh Valley.

Participants included U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent, R-15th District; the mayors of Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton; executives of Lehigh and Northampton counties; several state House members; and representatives from the state Transportation Department, Lehigh Valley International Airport, Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority, Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce and other groups.

Dent joined Pawlowski in support of American Parkway, and was cordial to Specter and LaHood, but took time to criticize an energy ''cap and trade'' proposal that has passed the House, with strong Democratic support, as a kind of back-door gas-tax increase that would provide no money for transportation projects.

In addition to LANTA board member Marin's focus on rail service, which was echoed by state Rep. Karen Beyer, R-Lehigh, state Rep. Jennifer Mann, D-Lehigh, stressed that Pennsylvania, with older transportation infrastructure than many states, can't afford to neglect the needed repairs and replacement.

Reacting to questions from Doughty and LANTA Executive Director Armando Greco, LaHood said the federal Highway Trust Fund ''is just inadequate.'' Declining gas-tax revenue as more fuel-efficient cars hit the highways will mean more stable sources of revenue must be found, he said, while pledging to ''work with Congress to put together a strong bill'' to provide adequate funding.

Michael Rebert, PennDOT's regional district executive, pitched in for his own plea, citing anticipated future funding shortfalls, particularly if the federal government does not approve the implementation of tolls on I-80. Specter declined to predict what the proposal's chances might be.

Lehigh Valley Planning Commission Executive Director Michael Kaiser stressed the importance of widening Route 22 from four to six lanes, a plan recently shelved by PennDOT for lack of funding.

''That's the most dangerous stretch of road around, right?'' Specter replied, but again, made no commitment to the widening.

LaHood at one point complimented Specter, who became a Democrat in April, for his ''very courageous vote'' in support of the federal stimulus bill, but Sestak in a later phone interview questioned Specter's commitment to stimulus spending, particularly early this year, when he was still a Republican.

In February, Sestak said, Specter voted for a bill sponsored by Republican Sen. John McCain that would have provided economic stimulus strictly through tax cuts. Had that bill ultimately succeeded, Pennsylvania would have received no transportation stimulus money, Sestak said.