Results tagged “Pennsylvania Turnpike” from Road Runner

It turns out that the state Attorney General is investigating the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, according to news reports.

The news came out today from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and other media outlets. A statewide grand jury is looking into patronage and possible "pay-to-play" contracts, the Tribune-Review is reporting on its Web site. You can read that story here.

And here's what the Associated Press is reporting today:

Pa. Turnpike says AG has subpoenaed its documents

By MARC LEVY and MARK SCOLFORO
Associated Press Writers

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission said Friday it was cooperating with a demand for documents by state prosecutors, but the subject of the investigation was not clear.

Turnpike spokesman Bill Capone said records had not yet been turned over.

"We can't provide you with any other details of when it came, or what it's about or anything like that," he said.

Kevin Harley, a spokesman for Attorney General Tom Corbett, declined comment.

Turnpike officials called the governor's office Friday to disclose the receipt of a subpoena, and aides informed Gov. Ed Rendell.

"I talked to the governor," he said, 'Well, certainly they need to comply and cooperate fully with the investigation,'" said Steve Crawford, Rendell's chief of staff.

The existence of the subpoena was first reported Friday by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Capone said he "did not know anything official" about reports that a grand jury was examining possible corruption at the agency, which has been criticized as a patronage haven.

In September, The Morning Call of Allentown reported that a former turnpike employee, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he had been questioned by a grand jury about patronage, campaign donations and contracts.

Turnpike chief executive Joe Brimmeier declined to discuss the investigation.

"I am not commenting on anything regarding any of those things until everything is sorted out," he said.

A web site called TOLLROADSnews posted Tuesday that the FBI is investigating the Pennsylvania Turnpike, saying that officers confiscated equipment and records from the Harrisburg office as part of a criminal investigation.

The Turnpike Commission denied that report to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette Wednesday.

"It never happened. The FBI did not visit any turnpike offices or confiscate any equipment belonging to the turnpike," Turnpike CEO Joe Brimmeier told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "(Toll Roads News) has a long history of sloppy or inaccurate reporting that reflects their efforts to malign the Pennsylvania Turnpike and its over 2,200 employees. Today they crossed the line between sloppy and reckless. The posting is false."

The FBI also said it never happened, according to the Allentown Morning Call.

John L. Micek, state house reporter for The (Allentown) Morning Call, reported on his blog later Wednesday that commission spokesman Bill Capone said the FBI is investigating what's going on with a Valley Forge widening project.

The commission then asked the FBI to come in and investigate after its own Office of Inspector General determined that the matter was too big for it to handle, Micek reported.

You can read more about it here.

Drivers traveling on the Pennsylvania Turnpike this weekend will see a single-lane restriction on the eastbound side between the Butler Valley and Pittsburgh exits.

The restriction will be from 8 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. Saturday.

Crews are working on the Allegheny River Bridge.

For information on traffic conditions, call 1-866-976-8747 or visit www.paturnpike.com/webmap on the Internet.

You don't have to wait for the traffic reports on the radio or television anymore.

Now you can get the information by dialing 511 on your cellular phone or going to www.511PA.com on the computer, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

The service provides free, round-the-clock information on traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, regional tourism and links to transit agencies and major airports.

Users can register through the Web site to receive personalized traffic alerts, provided through email and text messaging.

The 511PA roadway network includes all 1,759 miles of interstate, including the Pennsylvania Turnpike, as well as other major roadways in Harrisburg, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

Traffic information for the majority of the network includes crashes, construction work and starting in November, winter road conditions.

Do you travel a lot? Are you going to give this a try?

If you're planning to travel the Pennsylvania Turnpike this weekend, you'll want to know about a five-hour closure this weekend.

The turnpike will be closed in both directions from 11 p.m. Saturday to 4 a.m. Sunday between the Breezewood and Carlisle exits. Drivers getting off the turnpike will receive directions for the detour route.

The closure is necessary so that crews can demolish a bridge that carries Dyarman Road over the turnpike in Cumberland County.

This is the final of three demolition detours scheduled this spring.