The question is rather simple: If PennDOT closes an interstate highway, doesn’t the public deserve to know why?
For the third time in a month, PennDOT officials announced Friday – less than a day before the event – that Interstate 376 would be closed to traffic Saturday morning between the Monaca and Midland exits. More specifically, the closure takes all traffic off the Vanport Bridge crossing the Ohio River.
It’s not unusual for PennDOT to close roads in the summer months, which is peak construction season. However, the reason given for this closing, and the same one given for the previous two, was conspicuously vague: “activities unrelated to PennDOT.”
What exactly is an activity unrelated to PennDOT? A picnic? A parade? A protest? And why would any such activity merit the closing of an interstate highway?
When pressed, a local PennDOT spokesman added that the closing was due to “river traffic,” but repeated that it was unrelated to anything involving PennDOT. Again, that says absolutely nothing given that vessels – be it barges or pleasure crafts – have been traveling the Ohio River for centuries.
It is no coincidence that the last time the bridge was closed, on May 12, a barge delivered a large piece of equipment to the Shell Chemicals ethane cracker plant site in Potter Township. Neither Shell nor PennDOT would acknowledge that the bridge closing that weekend was related to the delivery, but once the equipment was delivered, the bridge reopened. It doesn’t take a genius to connect those dots.
When contacted Friday morning, PennDOT press secretary Rich Kirkpatrick said Saturday’s closing was due to safety concerns and done “out of an abundance of caution” because Shell Chemicals planned to take delivery on another large piece of equipment being delivered by barge. He said the barge would be in “close proximity” to the bridge while it was being unloaded.
So, why the secrecy and vagueness about the reason for closing the bridge?
“Shell has asked us not to reference them in regard to their river shipments,” Kirkpatrick said.
That’s where we have a major problem. The highways and rivers are public transportation and, essentially, belong to the public. Controls and regulations are certainly necessary, and closing access to those transportation routes is necessary at times.
But it is not PennDOT’s responsibility to mislead the public by withholding details as to why an interstate highway is being closed simply because Shell Chemicals doesn’t want anyone to know about a shipment.
Shell later released a statement saying that it works closely with PennDOT to ensure public safety and that it has "outreach with first responders and corporate neighbors prior to the closures as well as elected officials for awareness." That still doesn't explain why the public is kept in the dark.
The Shell ethane cracker plant represents the biggest industrial investment in the county and the region in more than a century. The residents of Pennsylvania are a partner in this venture by virtue of the $1.65 billion tax credit the state provided as a means of landing the plant.
That doesn’t mean, however, that Shell controls the agencies that serve the public. PennDOT and Shell did no service to themselves or the public by withholding what many suspected was the reason behind the bridge closing. We can only hope that we won’t see anymore such nonsense in the future.