In what could be seen as a shot across the bow of Senator Robert Jubelirer, a spokesman for Governor-elect Ed Rendell said Monday that Rendell was \u201cskeptical\u201d about the need for the project and would like to revisit the decision of whether a valley or ridge route for the highway would be less damaging to the environment.
\nYesterday, at the press conference announcing his sisters candidacy for the office of Blair County Treasurer, Congressman Bill Shuster commented on the comments from the Rendell staff.
\n\u201cHe can\u2019t move that money around,\u201d said Shuster about the federal money that is ear marked for the project. \u201cThat is something that Congress would have to do and I\u2019m not certainly going to stand back and let that happen.\u201d
\nShuster believes that the issue got blown out of proportion.
\n\u201cI want to sit down and see what the facts are,\u201d said Shuster. \u201cHe (Rendell) knows the importance of what I-99 means to this area, and I\u2019m sure that this project will go through.\u201d
\nThe stretch between Bald Eagle and State College has been delayed for years for many reasons. The one hope for the new highway is a safer roadway.
\nThe stretch of Route 220 that it would replace was responsible for six fatalities, 163 injuries and 167 accidents since 1996 from PENNDOT reports.
\nThis morning The Daily Herald spoke with the senator and he said the project is pressing forward.
\nOn the question if he felt Rendell shot across the bow, Jubelirer said, \u201cI don\u2019t feel that way at all. I believe that he (Rendell) was misinformed and didn\u2019t check the facts. Since then, Congressman Shuster, former congressman Shuster and I spoke with the Governor-elect in New York. Governors, and senators don\u2019t pick routes, PENNDOT does.\u201d
\nJubelirer believes that the comments were made without research.
\n\u201cHe talked with the group that opposes I-99,\u201d said the senator. \u201cThe Governor-elect reacted without checking facts.\u201d
\nJubelirer wants to get off to a good start with the incoming Rendell administration.
\n\u201cWe talked several times over the weekend,\u201d said Jubelirer. We are continuing to move forward with the project. The Game Commission appealed the decision by Judge Peoples. The way the law was written by former Congressman Bud Shuster has stood up in the courts. PENNDOT is proceeding according to the law.\u201d
\nThe Game Commission\u2019s continued opposition to the I-99 project has disappointed Jubelirer.
\n\u201cI met with the chairman of the Game Commission and we came to an agreement,\u201d said Jubelirer. \u201cWhen you make an agreement, you should stand by it. There must have been some detractors in the Commission.\u201d
\nPENNDOT is proceeding with its Eminent Domain powers and it has not been struck down by the courts.
\n\u201cThere are no injunctions against the project,\u201d said Jubelirer. \u201cIt should go forward as planned. The Governor-elect has been speaking of economic development since getting elected. The completion of I-99 is the biggest part of development we have. Who knows how many lives this highway will save and what company may have located here if that highway had been completed.\u201d
\nThe project from Bald Eagle to State College is scheduled to get underway in March.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In what could be seen as a shot across the bow of Senator Robert Jubelirer, a spokesman for Governor-elect Ed Rendell said Monday that Rendell was \u201cskeptical\u201d about the need for the project and would like to revisit the decision of whether a valley or ridge route for the highway would be less damaging to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=47648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47648\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=47648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=47648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=47648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}