HARRISBURG, Pa. The grand scheme by the governor of Pennsylvania to begin tolling Interstate 80 hit a major roadblock in Congress late last month.

The U.S. House approved an amendment that would prohibit the use of federal funds to implement tolls on I-80 in Pennsylvania.

The action by Congress prompted Gov. Edward Rendell to say he would revive plans for leasing the commonwealths turnpike.

"If this amendment becomes law it will cut transportation funding statewide and so we must immediately begin contingency planning," Rendell said.

"Accordingly, I have little choice but to restart the process to establish procedures for receiving bids for a long-term lease of the Pennsylvania Turnpike."

The U.S. House passed an amendment to next years federal transportation funding bill that prohibits using federal money to apply for federal funding or to establish tolls on I-80. The Senate is working on a separate bill, and the differences will be hammered out in conference committee for another vote expected this fall.

Two Republican congressmen from Pennsylvania, John Peterson and Phil English, sponsored the amendment to block the tolling.

Peterson said the money from the tolls would be used for urban mass transit, which he said already gets most of Pennsylvanias transportation funding.

"We are not going to stand by while Harrisburg raids western Pennsylvania travelers and picks truckers pockets to prop up Philadelphias mass transit system," English said.

English quoted a 2005 study by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation that recommended against tolling I-80 "based on the long timetable to realize benefits, the high costs of converting the road to toll and the fact that a financial break-even point is decades away."

Earlier last month, Rendell, a Democrat, signed into law a bill that would toll I-80 and increase state turnpike tolls. The governor earlier abandoned his controversial plan to lease the Turnpike in hope of compromising with the Legislature on a new state budget. (See Aug. 1 Bus & Motorcoach News.)