Emails between our elected representatives and PennDOT about the I-95 project
PennDOT’s Legislative/Governmental Affairs Assistant and I read the same Inquirer editorial by Inga Saffron about how the proposed I-95 widening project is a bad idea (https://www.inquirer.com/real-estate/i-95-highways-penndot-reconstruction-widening-cities-injustice-mitigate-biden--20240122.html) After I read this, I submitted a Right-to-Know Law request to PennDOT asking for all of their emails with a handful of Philadelphia elected officials about the project, to see if they’re actually advocating for Philadelphia neighborhoods.
There were not a ton of emails responsive to my request. It looks like back in November 2023, State Rep Fiedler, State Sen. Saval, and City Council member Squilla wanted to meet with PennDOT about this and have more public comment. They don’t have any other correspondence with PennDOT about the I-95 project, at least since 1/1/2022. Maybe these representatives have met with PennDOT a second time, but there haven’t been any follow-up emails.
The Right-to-Know law can be a very powerful tool, but an obvious limitation is that you can’t get emails and documents that don’t exist. If our elected officials had more written communications pushing back on this ridiculous highway project, there would be more to read.