Significant action has recently occurred related to identifying the remaining funding needed for the Central Susquehanna Valley Transportation (CSVT) Project, although additional steps must be taken to fully fund the project and advance it to construction.

On December 2, 2010, the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) approved the establishment of a new Appalachian Development Highway System (ADHS) corridor, as shown on the map available at the link below. This new corridor, designated as Corridor P-1, is located between the interchange of Interstates 80 and 180 north of Milton (at the southeastern terminus of existing Corridor P) and the interchange of US Routes 11/15 and 22/322 north of Harrisburg (near the eastern terminus of existing Corridor M).

This new corridor designation included the transfer of 12.5 ADHS participating miles to the CSVT Project from a portion of Corridor O-1, located along US Route 322 between Interstate 80 and Phillipsburg. The transfer makes the CSVT Project eligible for the ADHS funding that was previously allocated to that portion of Corridor O-1. However, previous Congressional action limited or “capped” that funding allocation to an amount (based on a 2007 cost estimate to complete the ADHS within Pennsylvania) that is less than the currently estimated $604 million cost of the CSVT Project. As a result, unless other funding sources are identified, further Congressional action will be required to remove or adjust the funding cap in order to fully fund the project with ADHS funds.

Furthermore, based on current legislation, ADHS funds can only be used for 80 percent of the project costs, and the remaining 20 percent must be funded by a state or local matching contribution. To advance the project to construction, amended federal legislation is needed to allow toll credits to be used as the matching contribution on ADHS-funded projects. Such action would allow additional ADHS funds and/or other federal funds to be used in lieu of a state or local contribution, thereby allowing ADHS and/or other federal funds to be used for 100 percent of the project costs (assuming that the funding cap is removed or adjusted as described above).