Boldness must arise locally to save roads

It's nearly spring and the secondary roads here are in poor shape. Some of the main roads, as well. It's an annual occurrence. But, this year there is a dramatic difference.

More roads are in far worse shape than perhaps ever before, in large part because of the battering from heavy trucks, many of which are in the area tending to the burgeoning natural gas industry.

Our countywide report Friday documented some of the worst locations. Efforts are underway to cope. But they are falling far short. Existing resources, public and private, are overwhelmed.

Where is the leadership? Where is our lightning rod? Entangled in politics?

Individual road masters, township supervisors and residents are left to howl in the wind. There is no coordination. Who will step up with thoughtful, reasoned insight?

Anybody? Anybody?

At the moment, it's mild-mannered Ed Grant, a man who stepped out of nowhere other than a long history of thoughtful local government participation. He calls for a coordinating coalition, a clearinghouse to get things prioritized and moving. It's the best we've heard yet!

But, the best that could be offered in return at Thursday's county commission meeting was to suggest to Mr. Grant, a Burlington town supervisor who appeared before the county's top elected political leaders to seek relief, that he attend a county committee meeting on natural gas next week. A committee meeting! What a tattered and frayed bureaucratic hand-me-down to cope with such a sizzling crisis!

Meanwhile, the county crumbles. Safety is imperiled. Lifestyles are jeopardized.

Inconvenience is an issue for motorists, of course. But far more important is safety for drivers. Safety for cars, safety for small trucks, safety for school buses carting children, and safety for big trucks, farm equipment and other vehicles.

Residents were warned about such looming hardships two years ago by county commissioners who saw early on some of the pros and cons of the natural gas boom resulting from exploitation of the Marcellus Shale play under Bradford County.

But, no one foresaw such a rapid expansion of prospecting and drilling - and infrastructure deterioration. Oversight, direction, regulation, control all lagged while the county was being transformed for better or for worse. Virtually all the mineral rights in Bradford County have been leased to gas companies, according to the Shirley Rockefeller, county register and recorder. Permits for 430 wells were issued by the state Department of Environmental Protection in 2009 for Bradford County alone, and 113 new wells were drilled. The rapid pace continues this year with 29 more drilling permits issued in January, second in the state only to Tioga County.

Plans for pipelines to transport the gas to markets are in the works. PennDOT, which only last week warned of a regional problem, says more than 60 roads in the county have been posted with weight restrictions. It is hard-pressed to keep up.

Behemoths lumber down the highways, some oversized, some overweight and, in too many cases, going too fast. They include 5,500 gallon and larger water tankers, flat beds to haul equipment, and dump trucks to haul material, all of which clog the roads, and grind the pavement. Crashes are more and more common. State police are levying unheard of fines for illegal loads running in the tens of thousands of dollars.

The roads, especially the secondary and tertiary roads are being pounded and pulverized into pot holes, gullies and broken shoulders. Driving is a hazard. Residents are growing impatient, even angry. Township supervisors and other municipal officials are at wits end.

It's a crisis.

Worse, there is no plan for orderly transition to the new economy, the new Bradford County. Where are the commissioners, where are the state representatives (Pickett, Baker, Yaw), where is the governor, where is the Northern Tier Regional Planning Commission. Where is …. ? All too wrapped up in their own bureaucratic worlds to step into the real worlds and deal with one of the most important, transformational phenomena to face the region ever?

There appears to be no knowledgeable, effective coordinated effort to evaluate and make recommendations for improvement in any logical way. No prioritizing of problems, no prioritizing of resources. In short, no leadership. It's a no-brainer. But, it took Mr. Grant to give it some life. Let's not let his idea die.

It's a chance for the county to shine. To rise to the occasion, to seize the reins and set something meaningful in action. The county commissioners have a bully pulpit. Abandon partisan politics. Unite for the greater good. Publicly snarl like a pit bull at the state laggards who choke off the money and stifle creative thinking. Be visible. Adopt a crash program. Meet daily and speak out until something is figured out and the powers that be agree to help. An election looms. Be courageous. Be behind your constituents. Be right.

There is money tucked away in government coffers. Be creative. Who will have the courage, and astuteness to stand up and go after it? Insist on emergency legislation if necessary? Pennsylvania, with the worst roads and bridges in the country, assesses a tax of 38.1 cents per gallon on diesel fuel, the highest state rate, and 32.3 cents per gallon on gasoline. The federal government adds 18.4 cents per gallon of gasoline and 24.4 cents per gallon for diesel fuel. The state taxes most recently were raised in 2006. Get some of that money. Figure out how.

The as-yet unauthorized severance tax aside for now, there are WAMS, and there is the legislative slush fund. Insist that money be pried loose to provide immediate help to prime the pump for infrastructure, including roads, relief.

It must be done now.

It can no longer be business as usual. Conditions will only worsen.