Motorists

HARRISBURG - The state Senate approved a $2.5 billion transportation-funding bill Wednesday, aimed at repairing thousands of aging bridges and miles of roads while pumping more money into transit, setting the stage for a fight over the bill's fate in the House. The plan, championed by Transportation Committee Chairman John Rafferty (R., Montgomery), ups the ante on the $1.8 billion proposal Gov. Corbett unveiled in February to address the state's infrastructure problems. Rafferty's bill, was approved on a 45-5 vote, would increase driver's license and vehicle-registration fees, and put a hefty surcharge on speeders and others who violate traffic laws.

Nearly 200 traffic citations were issued to motorists along Route 3, the West Chester Pike, on Monday as municipal police from West Goshen to Upper Darby beefed up patrols on the 27-mile stretch of highway. The citations were handed out between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. during a "safety blitz" of the roadway. The blitz was part of an ongoing state Department of Transportation program that aims to boost safety on 55 major highways in the state. "It went very well," Newtown Township Police Chief Stanley Short said yesterday.

I agree with Joanne R. Denworth's assessment of the need to repair the state's highways and bridges (Guest Opinion, "Fix roads, but don't forget mass transit"), but I am concerned that she is also advocating that the state's motorists reach deeper into their pockets to fund mass transit systems most of them will never use. It may surprise many motorists to learn they already pay a great deal for mass transit. Motorists pay 18 cents federal tax at the gas pump, of which only 10 cents is used for highway maintenance.

Mary Tate thought she heard a bomb explode. But the loud bang that filled her Oldsmobile Toronado as she drove down Admiral Wilson Boulevard toward the Benjamin Franklin Bridge on Wednesday evening was the sound of her own windshield breaking. Tate's car was one of several vehicles that were bombarded Wednesday evening as vandals dropped debris from the Conrail railroad bridge onto moving vehicles below. "I didn't know what happened," said Tate, of Philadelphia, who estimated that she was driving about 30 m.p.h.

Philadelphia ambushed its own Kelly Drive rush-hour commuters this morning. The heavily-traveled scenic drive was shut down - without warning to motorists - at 6 a.m. The occasion was the Dad Vail Regatta. It's the world's largest intercollegiate rowing competition, according to Jack Seitz, president of the Collegiate Rowing Association. About 75 colleges, 1,000 sculls, 3,000 competitors and up to 25,000 spectators are here for the two-day event, according to a report by 92nd Police District Capt.

IN RESPONSE to your Aug. 20 editorial ("Red Means Stop"): I want to assure you and your readers that the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is committed to maintaining the safest possible state highway system for the millions of people who use it each day in the Greater Philadelphia Region and throughout the commonwealth. PennDOT invested $27 million from 1995 to 1997 to rebuild and improve safety along 13 miles of Roosevelt Boulevard between 9th Street and the Bucks County line.

The Black Ministers Council of New Jersey is urging motorists stopped by police to refuse any request for a search and demand a legal reason for the examination (news brief, March 14). When I heard about this, I couldn't help thinking about the bad old days 34 years ago when I was a young police sergeant in North Philadelphia. I remember being full of hope and ideals. I knew my squad was going to make a difference for the people living in that crime-infested neighborhood. My assignment just before being promoted had been in the lily-white Northeast part of the city.

The motorist's best friend - right turn on red - could be an endangered species in Philadelphia. At yesterday's City Council hearing on pedestrian safety, several experts suggested the city abolish legal turns at red lights because motorists frequently ignore people crossing the street. Though statistics show only a minor increase in accidents at turn-on-red intersections, David Bachman, a PennDOT traffic expert, said the turns have created a "pedestrian-unfriendly environment.

For Philadelphia motorists, the nightmare may continue. Just as they await the scheduled completion of the Schuylkill Expressway reconstruction project later today, plans already are in place to convert West River Drive from a one-way entry or escape route during the morning and evening rush hours to a two-way thoroughfare all the time, beginning Monday. Montgomery Drive, Neill Drive, the Falls Bridge and Calumet Street also will be made two way 24 hours a day. Compounding the difficulties, West River Drive will be closed for repairs from the Sweetbriar cutoff to Eakins Oval for two weeks, beginning Monday, Streets Commissioner Alexander L. Hoskins announced yesterday.

An air-traffic controller driving to work on Interstate 95 yesterday afternoon teamed up with another motorist to stop a tractor-trailer that had sideswiped a city police cruiser near the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, police said. The officer driving the police car, Andrew Martin, assigned to the Accident Investigation Division, received head, face and shoulder injuries in the accident. He was reported in stable condition last night at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. According to police accident investigators, Martin was southbound on the expressway about 2:15 p.m. when the rear wheels of the rig hit the police car, causing it to run out of control and strike a wall on the shoulder of the highway.

HARRISBURG - The state Senate approved a $2.5 billion transportation-funding bill Wednesday, aimed at repairing thousands of aging bridges and miles of roads while pumping more money into transit, setting the stage for a fight over the bill's fate in the House. The plan, championed by Transportation Committee Chairman John Rafferty (R., Montgomery), ups the ante on the $1.8 billion proposal Gov. Corbett unveiled in February to address the state's infrastructure problems. Rafferty's bill, was approved on a 45-5 vote, would increase driver's license and vehicle-registration fees, and put a hefty surcharge on speeders and others who violate traffic laws.

Vice President Joe Biden will be in Philadelphia Monday morning to address the University of Pennsylvania's 257th commencement. The ceremony will be held at Franklin Field and motorists should be prepared for traffic backups in the area. Biden will receive an honorary doctor of laws degree.  

A five-mile section of the Pennsylvania Turnpike will be closed in both directions for several hours this weekend. The road between the Harrisburg East Interchange (Exit 247) and Harrisburg West Interchange (Exit 242) will close from 12:01 a.m. through 6 a.m. Sunday. The closure will allow crews to remove overhead beams on the Old York Road Bridge in Fairview Township, York County. The detour for motorists traveling west is Interstate 283 to Interstate 83 to the turnpike. Eastbound motorists should take I-83 to I-283 to the turnpike.

Gasoline prices are climbing early and fast this year, as any driver can attest. The average cost at the pump nationwide for a gallon of regular stood Wednesday at $3.77 - 20 cents higher than a year ago, and up 46 cents in the last month. "Consumers are really being hit hard," said Jim Lardear, spokesman for AAA Mid-Atlantic. He noted the price spike represents a second whammy on households following the rise in Social Security taxes that hit paychecks in January. Gas prices peaked in the spring the last two years, though the highest national average gasoline price recorded by the auto club - $4.11 a gallon - was reached in mid-July 2008.

LOS ANGELES - There was no question. The man standing before Rick Heltebrake on a rural mountain road was Christopher Dorner. Clad in camouflage from head to toe and wearing a bulletproof vest packed with ammunition, the most wanted man in America over the last week was just a few feet away, having emerged from a grove of trees holding a large, assault-style rifle. As teams of officers who had sought the fugitive ex-Los Angeles police officer since last week were closing in, Dorner pointed the gun at Heltebrake and ordered him to get out of his truck.

A 54-year-old man driving west on the Walt Whitman Bridge on Sunday morning stopped his car, got out, and leaped over the side to his death, police said. The suicide happened at 11:23 a.m., a police spokeswoman said. A Coast Guard crew recovered the man's body. He was pronounced dead shortly after noon. Police, who were still investigating Sunday night, declined to identify the man. - John P. Martin

A Salem County, N.J., motorist was killed Wednesday in a crash in Harrison Township, police said. Lucas E. McDonald, 22, of Elmer, was southbound when he drove off Richwood Road and his vehicle struck a tree around 5:45 p.m., Police Lt. David M. Wingate said. McDonald was trapped as his 1999 Dodge Ram burst into flames and died at the scene. - Darran Simon

Motorists across Philadelphia, its suburbs and Southern New Jersey face a slower morning commute along many major roads this morning. That will be especially true crossing area bridges. A dense fog advisory is in effect until 10 a.m. Forecasters say the fog could reduce visibility to a quarter mile or less before it burns off. Motorists are advised to slow down and leave plenty of distance between vehicles. Traffic is reduced to 35 m.p.h. on the Ben Franklin, Walt Whitman and Betsy Ross Bridges, and to 25 m.p.h.

The ramp from eastbound I-676 (Vine Street Expressway) to southbound I-95 in Philadelphia will be closed from 9 p.m. Tuesday until 5 a.m. Wednesday for deck repair, PennDot says. While the ramp is closed, I-676 motorists who want to exit at I-95 southbound will be detoured to I-95 North, to the Girard Avenue exit, to the ramp to I-95 South.

On First Avenue near 96th Street in Manhattan, there is a large open parking lot in front of the Stanley M. Isaacs Houses, a public-housing project. The residents of New York's public housing pay no more than $45 a month for reserved parking, which is a pretty good deal, because the average daily parking fee in midtown Manhattan is $40. I find it somewhat bizarre that New York provides a luxury good - parking in Manhattan - to public-housing residents at almost no cost. But many government policies favor parking.