Marple, Newtown Getting $1.04M For Road, Bridge Repair

MARPLE-NEWTOWN, PA — MArple and Newtown townships are getting a cut of several hundred million dollars to help fix its roads and bridges, PennDOT said.

PennDOT said it is allocated $452.7 million in liquid fuels payments to help certified municipalities maintain their roads and bridges.

This year's allocation is approximately 7 percent less than last year's, due to reduced gas tax revenues as a result of the coronavirus.

Marple Township is getting $666,606.62 of the liquid fuels funds and Newtown Township $376,486.88

PennDOT's annual distributions assist with municipalities' highway and bridge-related expenses such as snow removal and road repaving. There are 120,596 miles of public roads in Pennsylvania.

There are 73,091 miles owned by municipalities and eligible for liquid fuels. The formula for payments is based on a municipality's population and miles of locally-owned roads.

Marple Township has 80.45 miles of road and 23,428 residents, while Newtown Township has 51.70 miles and 12,216 residents.

Act 89 of 2013 made more funding available for locally owned roadways. Before the law, municipalities received $320.8 million in liquid fuels payments.

To be eligible for liquid fuels, a roadway must be formally adopted as a public street by the municipality, meet certain dimension requirements, and be able to safely accommodate vehicles driving at least 15 miles per hour.