With no other funding source in sight, the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) – in partnership with PennDOT, SEPTA, and Berks, Chester and Montgomery counties – sponsored the 422plus Project to answer the question:

• Could tolling 25 miles of 422 pay for improving the 422 corridor, improving impacted local roads, and re-establishing passenger rail from Norristown to Reading/Wyomissing?

The answer is yes – a modest toll managed by a local authority could pay for these improvements, and have them in place far faster than waiting for available funds from Harrisburg or Washington.

However, public and political sentiment told us that people would rather see a comprehensive statewide solution than a local toll. Governor Corbett’s Transportation Funding and Advisory Commission (see www.tfac.pa.gov) has proposed a comprehensive package to increase funding for transportation infrastructure across Pennsylvania. Support and passage of this package will enable critical transportation improvements to proceed, without a toll.

We encourage you to review the findings of the 422plus Project report, as well as the TFAC recommendations, and let us know your thoughts on how best to proceed in the 422 corridor.  Please email us your ideas about the critical needs along 422 and alternate funding ideas at team@422corridor.com.

Click here to download the 422plus Report introductory letter by Barry Seymour, DVRPC Executive Director (PDF)

Click here to download 422plus – Synopsis and Findings (PDF)

Click here to download 422plus – Appendix A: Tolling US 422: Traffic and Revenue Forecasts (PDF)

Click here to download 422plus – Appendix B: Addressing US 422 User Needs: The Highway Component Report (PDF)

Click here to download 422plus – Appendix C: Transit Component Report (PDF)

Click here to download 422plus – Appendix D: Using Toll Revenue to Finance Highway and Transit Capital Improvements (PDF)

Click here to download 422plus – Appendix E: The 422plus Public Outreach Program (PDF)

Click here to download 422plus – Appendix F: Summary of Previous Transportation Studies (PDF)

Click here to download 422plus – Appendix G: Supplemental Exhibits 01 – 13 (PDF)

Click here to download 422plus – Appendix G: Supplemental Exhibits 14 – 22 (PDF)

Click here to download 422plus – Appendix G: Supplemental Exhibits 23 – 25 (PDF)

Click here to download 422plus – Appendix G: Supplemental Exhibits 26 – 34 (PDF)

The report notes that “in 2010, the Pennsylvania State Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) produced a report that quantified the state’s unfunded transportation needs at approximately $3.5 billion.  The gap is growing and will reach an estimated $7.2 billion in 10 years if we do not take action to address the transportation need.  The gap is growing because of continued decline in fuel tax revenue due to vehicle efficiency, reduced buying power due to inflation, and increasing costs of the PA State Police consuming a bigger slice of the Motor License Fund.”

Please read more about the state of PA’s transportation infrastructure and the Advisory Commission’s recommended funding package.  

Click here to download TFAC’s Final Report (PDF)
Click here to go to TFAC’s webpage: http://www.tfac.pa.gov/

Click here to download a copy of the Presentation from June 22, 2011 (PDF)

Click here to view a video of a portion of the presentation (posted on Pottstown Mercury website).

During TFAC’s meeting on Monday, June 6, 2011, Barry Seymour, Executive Director of DVRPC, provided an update about the 422plus Project to the members of the Commission, illustrating a potential local option available to improve the state’s transportation infrastructure.

Click here to download the DRAFT 422plus Project TFAC Presentation (PDF)
Click here to download a summary brochure about the 422plus Project (PDF)

QUESTION: If there is a toll, how will I pay it? Will there be tollbooths? Will I have to have EZPass or is there another method that I haven’t heard about yet?

[Video answer - 0:48 seconds]

QUESTION: If I have to pay a toll on 422, why aren’t other drivers being asked to pay to travel on other congested roads like the Schuylkill Expressway? And why should I pay for a road that I now get for free?

[Video answer - 1:21 minutes]

QUESTION: I’m worried that my toll money will go into the state’s general fund and be wasted. How can I be sure that money for 422 stays on 422?

[Video answer - 1:01 minutes]

QUESTION: One of the ideas the 422plus Project is considering is using money from possible tolls on 422 to extend passenger rail service from Norristown to Wyomissing, just beyond Reading. If there is such a train, do you think your employees would use it to commute, or to attend a sporting event or entertainment?

[Video answer -  1:09 minutes]

QUESTION: I understand that part of the plan may be new, extended train service. I drive. If there is a toll on 422, how can a train, paid for with my tolls, possibly benefit me?

[Video answer -  1:09 minutes]

QUESTION: If the 422plus Project determines that a toll is necessary on the road, part of the project involves using some of the tolls collected to extend the current commuter train from Norristown, where it ends now, to Wyomissing, just beyond Reading. Do you believe this would be a good use of your toll money and would you use the train if it became a reality?

[Video answer - 1:46 minutes]

QUESTION: The 422plus Project is investigating the possibility of a toll for 422. Do you think you and your employees would support such a toll if you were assured that the revenue collected from tolling US 422 would be spent on improvement projects in the 422 Corridor?

[Video answer - 1:18 minutes]

QUESTION: One of the methods the 422plus Project is investigating is the possibility of instituting a toll on a portion of 422. If you believed the road’s condition and congestion would improve and the money collected would be used only for 422, would you be willing to pay a toll?

[Video answer - 1:53 minutes]

QUESTION: What is it like for your employees to drive to work on US422, especially during rush hours?

[Video answer - 2:11 minutes]

QUESTION: With the current situation on US422, do you think the state, counties, and federal government can wait, or do you believe something should be done about 422 as soon as possible?

[Video answer - 1:17 minutes]