Pennsylvania's transportation plan, Act 89, is helping clear the way for the start of 37 projects in PennDOT's East Central Pennsylvania region, District Executive Michael W. Rebert said today.

These include five resurfacing projects in the local area.They are:• Surface improvements for Route 209/Interchange Road in Franklin and Towamensing townships, at an estimated cost of $335,000.• Surface improvements of Forest Inn Road in Towamensing Township, at an estimated cost of $425,000.• Surface Improvements to Route 93 in Banks Township and Beaver Meadows Borough; Route 209 in Jim Thorpe and Nesquehoning boroughs; and Route 309 in Banks Township at an estimated cost of $660,000.Schuylkill County improvements include:• Surface improvements to Route 895 in West Penn Township, costing an estimated $950,000.Monroe County improvements include:• Surface Improvements to Route 115 in Chestnuthill and Tunkhannock townships, costing an estimated $1.5 million.Projects are also planned in the Allentown area of Lehigh County and the eastern region of Northampton County.Of these, only the Route 209 project is expected to begin this year.Rebert said the district will have an additional 33 projects under construction this year.These were planned before the Act 89 funds were part of the budget.These projects include replacing the Route 903 Bridge (over the Lehigh River) in Carbon County."It will be an exciting year in terms of improving roads and bridges, with the number of new projects that will start throughout the region," Rebert said."The additional resources made possible by the bipartisan consensus reached by Gov. Corbett and the Legislature gives PennDOT the ability to repair the damage caused by the severe winter weather and resurface many more roads in our region."Act 89 adopted last year generates $2.3 billion over a five-year period, an amount between the governor's February proposal of $1.8 billion and the $2.5 billion Senate version. Act 89 addresses many of the issues counties have raised in the context of their responsibilities for infrastructure and mass transit.The key funding provision is the elimination in its entirety of the 12-cent state retail gas tax, currently paid at the pump, on the act's effective date, to be replaced over a five-year period by funding generated from the removal of the artificial cap on the Oil Company Franchise Tax, which is charged at the wholesale level. The millage increase in the first year of the incremental lift of the Oil Company Franchise Tax will be enough to offset the 12-cent immediate removal of the retail gas tax.The act also increases vehicle licensing fees, drivers' license costs, and even various fines.