The state could put weight limits on aging bridges across Pennsylvania as early as this fall as a direct result of the failure in Harrisburg to pass a transportation funding plan.
The limit would require certain vehicles to find detours around bridges.
"Whether it'll occur this summer is based on the age and the analysis of the bridge, which we're going to do," said PennDOT Secretary Barry Schoch the night Gov. Tom Corbett signed a state budget. "We'll let you know whether it'll happen this summer, whether it'll happen this fall, and you know, without question, without action in the fall, it will happen in the fall."
PennDOT has 1,200 bridges in its sights that would be weight-restricted. But bridges aren't the only thing at immediate risk in the commonwealth without a major cash infusion.
Amtrak train service between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh is in jeopardy. Schoch said transit systems in the Philadelphia area are now unfunded. In Pittsburgh, the lack of a funding bill may cause a labor agreement with the Port Authority to unravel.
A roughly $2 billion plan stalled in the state House last week.
