What do you think about paying a toll to cross the Thomas J. McCall Memorial Bridge between Lehighton and Weissport or the Routes 209 and 903 bridge to the eastern section of Jim Thorpe?

Lunacy, you say.

This scenario might not be all that unrealistic. It all depends on how a proposal by the state Department of Transportation shakes out in the next few years.

PennDOT has gotten approval to consider tolls on major bridges to help pay for repairs or replacement of these structures and use excess money for other road and bridge projects. Interstates are not involved.

Here is how it would work: The Public Private Transportation Partnership, which approved moving forward with consideration, would allow PennDOT to charge tolls and turn over the maintenance and construction of the bridges to a private company.

This partnership was established by the Pennsylvania General Assembly to promote public-private partnerships. Bottom line: It doesn’t need further legislative approval.

Just to set the record straight. Even if all of the pieces of this puzzle fall into place, it would be several years before this plan would get off the ground. For example, once each bridge has been identified for inclusion in the program, it would have to go through public hearings, environmental investigations and meet other local, state and federal criteria before it is a done deal.

If you’re wondering what is prompting this significant departure from normal funding standards, it has to do with the amount of money coming into state coffers to finance infrastructure needs in the Keystone State.

As vehicles have become more fuel-efficient, revenue produced by the state gasoline tax has flattened. Add to that the reduced driving by motorists during the last eight months because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the shortfall has been in the millions.

Pennsylvania pays the second highest state gas tax in the nation at 58.7 cents per gallon. This does not include the 18.4 cents per gallon federal gas tax. You are probably thinking that this must add up to a ton of money, and it does, but here’s where things get nutty. Not all of the money raised by the gasoline tax is going where it should - to pay for repairs of our roads and bridges.

More than $4 billion has been diverted to other state priorities, including $2.45 billion to the state police over the past six years. This practice was soundly panned in an audit conducted by the state Auditor General’s office and disclosed by Auditor General Eugene DePasquale.

To make up for the diversion of these funds, the state has leaned on the Turnpike Commission, and during the last dozen years has siphoned off $6.6 billion of toll funds to pay for mass transit costs and road construction projects. This practice will continue for the foreseeable future.

And where does this money come from? Increasing turnpike tolls twice a year through 2044. Sheer madness.

DePasquale warned that if the Turnpike Commission makes good on its threat to raise tolls annually for the next 24 years, as it said it would have to do to remain on a sound fiscal footing, it will destabilize the turnpike system, putting the nation’s first toll road in financial jeopardy.

The proposed PennDOT bridge tolls would be assessed through the E-Z Pass system. Those without E-Z Pass transponders would be billed by mail.

PennDOT will entertain proposals from private companies to design, upgrade and maintain identified bridges that need to be replaced or repaired. Once the tolls pay for the designated project, additional tolls will be diverted to other transportation projects.

Now, PennDOT does not refer to these payments as “tolls” but as “user fees.” Clever.

While it’s not certain that smaller bridges such as the two I mentioned at the beginning of this column will be in the forefront of this proposal, you can be sure that bridges on Routes 22, 33, 61, 309, 222 and other nearby major highways will be in the mix.

I am giving you a heads-up to keep an eye on this even though PennDOT says that the program would not go into effect until 2023 at the earliest.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com