Pa. officials were forced to address rail safety, but what about highway safety? | Letter

It’s about time our elected officers carry out as they’re anticipated to. Just lately, with the practice derailment in Ohio, Pennsylvania’s elected officers toured the cities close to the Ohio-Pennsylvania border and, in fact, began pounding on the conflict drums about rail security.

I’ve no argument about this in any respect. Nevertheless, I do have an argument as to the place our elected officers have been throughout the systematic destruction of our freeway system in Pennsylvania? Why are you going after the railways? As a result of they’ve deep pockets? The place is all of the tax cash going that has been collected on the gas pumps for freeway upkeep? Oh, allow us to always remember the cash mandated to be handed over from the Pennsylvania Turnpike to fund non-turnpike tasks. In 2021 it was a whopping $450 million greenback “cost” to PennDOT.

In a single occasion, it’s going to a Route 378 lighting venture. There are such a lot of areas the place current lighting isn’t functioning, and also you wish to add extra? In Wind Hole, a number of years in the past the interchange was underneath building to extend security. Nonfunctional lighting was eliminated and by no means changed. Pennsylvania can’t even preserve what’s presently there for “security” causes and also you wish to stroll away from that and go some other place.

It’s about time elected officers be held accountable for this mess. I’m questioning if Gov. Josh Shapiro would go to Route 33 in Northampton County and bang on the conflict drums of security as exhausting. My automobile should move an annual state inspection to make sure it’s protected to be on the highway, however the freeway isn’t required to be as much as the identical requirements.

Jeffrey Berger

Plainfield Township