​I-80 Over Lehigh River Bridge Project History & Funding

The Major Bridge P3 (MBP3) was approved by the Pennsylvania P3 board in November 2020, for the replacement or rehabilitation of nine major interstate bridges through a progressive P3 delivery model. At that time, PennDOT planned to make annual payments to pay for the work and financing costs on these bridges using mandatory tolling, as was permitted by the Pennsylvania P3 law at the time. Since that time, Act 84 of 2022 amended the P3 law to eliminate mandatory tolling of existing free lanes. The Act also preserved the department's ability to continue the MBP3 and move forward with the Predevelopment Agreement (PDA) with Bridging Pennsylvania Partners.  In August 2022, PennDOT chose to move the bridge projects in the MBP3 forward without tolling and pay for the project(s) using existing funds to make annual payments to the development entity over 35 years. 

This bridge was one of six bridges in Package 1 to be delivered via the MBP3. A Categorical Exclusion (CE) Reevaluation was prepared by PennDOT and approved by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The approved CE Reevaluation evaluated and documented how the project build alternative without tolling would affect the surrounding community and environment.

See the Approved CE (PDF)