The U.S. Department of Transportation is expected to deny Pennsylvania's proposed tolling of Interstate 80 within the next week, halting a proposal pushed for several years by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, according to multiple federal sources.

A Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) spokesperson would not comment on the status of the decision.

On January 28, the office of U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-Pa) was informed of a meeting taking place at the Department of Transportation regarding the I-80 decision.   Mr. Thompson - along with fellow representatives Kathy Dahlkemper (D-Pa), Chris Carney (D-Pa), and Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa) - had met with Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and FHWA Administrator Victory Mendez on January 19.  At that time, they were told the review was winding down and a decision was not far off.

Previous attempts to gain approval for tolling I-80 were denied by the FHWA in 2007 and 2008.  The joint effort between PennDOT and the Turnpike Commission, a product of Act 44, was submitted for the third time in October of last year.

Carl DeFebo, a spokesperson for the Turnpike Commission, emphasized that previous applications had not been rejected, but that the FHWA was looking for more information in order to make their decision.

"All along we knew this was going to be a lengthy process because it's breaking new ground, and we had anticipated that the feds were going to do their job and ask for more information when making their decision," said Mr. Defebo.

If the FHWA did approve the plan to toll Interstate 80 in Pennsylvania, it would be unique within the Interstate System.

Though the Interstate Highway System includes plenty of toll roads - the Pennsylvania Turnpike and New York Thruway are just two examples - the I-80 corridor would be the first of its kind to have tolls added when the highway had been built without them.

Beginning in the 1950s, construction and maintenance of the Interstate Highway System has been funded primarily through fuel and vehicle taxes.  Changes to the Interstate Program in 1995 allowed for more leniency with tolling on the construction of new interstates, but it set high standards for the application of new tolls to existing interstates.

A spokesperson for Mr. LaHood told the Associated Press in October that the secretary favors tolling new roads, but would prefer not to toll existing ones.

According to the Transportation Equity Act for the 21^st Century (TEA-21), an interstate may be tolled if the state can prove it lacks the funds to reconstruct or maintain a road with existing apportionments.  The FHWA has cited that particular requirement in their responses to the state's previous applications for authority to toll I-80.

A 2005 PennDOT study recommended keeping I-80 toll-free.  That study stated that the "once deteriorated condition of I-80" had been corrected by PennDOT, and that the annual cost of maintaining the highway was "no longer an abnormal drain on PennDOT's budget".

The most recent proposal estimates costs of $665 million to install toll booths and E-Z Pass equipment along I-80, with estimated yearly revenue between $250 million and $350 million from tolls.  That revenue would make I-80 financially independent; saving PennDOT the $60 million spent on the highway annually, said Mr. DeFebo.  Toll revenue would also be directed to fund other highway projects in the state, but could not be used for public transportation funding, according to ACT 44.