The Pennsylvania P3 Act was approved in 2012 to help fund the cost of repairing and maintaining the state’s structurally deficient bridges. PennDOT has recently expanded its goals for the program—to 500 bridge repair projects.
With more than 4,000 structurally deficient bridges, Pennsylvania leads the nation in the ignominious metric of most structurally deficient bridges (18 percent of its bridges are structurally deficient, compared to the national average of 8 percent). But in the coming year, the state will launch a public-private partnership program to repair 500 of those bridges, reports Charles Chieppo.
The Pennsylvania P3 Act allows the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) to bundle similar projects rather than designing and building each one at a time. Also, “Recognizing that operations and maintenance account for 80 to 90 percent of costs over the lifetime of a transportation asset, the private partners will also operate and maintain the bridges for as long as 40 years.” Because “Payment will be based on the contractor's performance at limiting lifecycle costs,” the private partners will have plenty of incentive to deliver durable products.
The PennDOT is expecting big returns from the program: “The Pennsylvania P3 Act…is expected to spark about $3.5 billion annually in additional transportation infrastructure investment without relying exclusively on tax revenue…” Not only that, but the PennDOT claims that “absent the [Pennsylvania P3 Act], the bridge replacements would take 15 to 20 years…”
FULL STORY: A Cost-Effective Way to Rebuild 500 Bridges
Oregon Passes Exemption to Urban Growth Boundary
Cities have a one-time chance to acquire new land for development in a bid to increase housing supply and affordability.
Where Urban Design Is Headed in 2024
A forecast of likely trends in urban design and architecture.
Savannah: A City of Planning Contrasts
From a human-scales, plaza-anchored grid to suburban sprawl, the oldest planned city in the United States has seen wildly different development patterns.
Washington Tribes Receive Resilience Funding
The 28 grants support projects including relocation efforts as coastal communities face the growing impacts of climate change.
Adaptive Reuse Bills Introduced in California Assembly
The legislation would expand eligibility for economic incentives and let cities loosen regulations to allow for more building conversions.
LA's Top Parks, Ranked
TimeOut just released its list of the top 26 parks in the L.A. area, which is home to some of the best green spaces around.
City of Rochester
Boston Harbor Now
City of Bellevue
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Birmingham, Alabama
City of Laramie, Wyoming
Colorado Department of Local Affairs
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.