Pennsylvania Eminent Domain Lawyer & Attorney : Fox Rothschild Law Firm : Condemnation, Real Estate Valuation : Philadelphia, Bucks County, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell announced a plan to repair 1,145 bridges across Pennsylvania. The list and a county-by-county map of all the bridges are available on PennDOT’s Web site at www.dot7.state.pa.us/RebuildPA/Main.htm

Rendell has asked the General Assembly to approve this plan which he estimates will require state funding of an additional $200 million a year for three years, to be combined with federal road repair funds. The "structurally deficient" bridges include 91 in Southeastern Pennsylvania including 35 in Bucks County, 26 in Chester County, 15 in Montgomery County, nine in Philadelphia, and six in Delaware County. Most are smaller bridges.

It is unclear at this time whether the General Assembly will approve this project. According to press accounts, Senate Republicans acknowledged repairs were necessary but expressed reluctance to borrow more funds. This issue will likely by an important part of budget negotiations.

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PennDOT has been planning a project known as the “Marshalls Creek Bypass” for many years. It is aimed to alleviate gridlock at the bottleneck of Routes 209 and 402 in Smithfield and Middle Smithfield townships, Monroe County Pennsylvania. PennDOT has already acquired some properties for this project and was sent to acquire more properties when it decided to put the project on hold in April.

I represent some of the property owners that will be impacted by this project and spoke with a PennDOT representative about its plans. PennDOT still intends to go forward with the project. However, it is revisiting some of its plans to determine if there are ways to cut costs.

It appears that we will know more about PennDOT’s plans later in the summer or early fall.

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The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation ("PennDOT") recently announced its preliminary construction plans for a portion of I-95 in Northeast Philadelphia. These plans include rebuilding two interchanges – one at Bridge Street and one at Betsy Ross Bridge and Aramingo Avenue. PennDOT also intends to rebuild a three-mile stretch of I-95 between Cottman Avenue and the Betsy Ross Bridge. Construction is scheduled to start in 2012. However, according to PennDOT, preliminary engineering is to be completed late this year.

Businesses and residential properties will be acquired for the project – either amicably or through the eminent domain process. I spoke with the outside consultant for the project who told me the acquisition for the project will be in about 2 years. However, we always counsel our clients to engage in “pre-condemnation” planning. This involves a number of potential actions including working with PennDOT to see if you can avoid losing your property. However, most planning involves taking steps to ensure that you receive the maximum payment for your property if it is condemned.

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