by KYW's Steve Tawa
Governor Ed Rendell says Pennsylvania Turnpike officials are deliberately scaring the public about his plan to lease the turnpike to generate money to fund transportation projects in the Commonwealth.
The governor didn't take kindly to recent remarks by top turnpike officials, who contended that Rendell's plan to lease the roadway will put the kibosh on key turnpike projects:
"There were misrepresentations made by turnpike officials that, at best, were deliberately misleading, and, at worst, were deliberate untruths."
Rendell says the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, which stands to lose control of its operations if the 530-mile system goes into private hands, has every right to advance its own proposals, but adds that they "don't have a right to deliberately scare" the public about the condition of the turnpike or the fate of transportation projects:
"This was an attempt to further discredit the idea of private leasing."
Rendell wants to make it clear that all projects in the ten-year plan will be completed, regardless of what happens to the turnpike as a funding mechanism -- because they were already paid for with a toll increase.
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