The legal battle over high tolls on the Pennsylvania Turnpike might be headed for the nation’s highest court, writes Matt Miller for the Penn Live.

The Independent Drivers Association and the National Motorists Association are petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to hear their challenge on the constitutionality of the issue.

The organizations contend that the tolls are excessive and violate the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution and claim the fees are “an unlawful impairment on drivers’ constitutional right to travel.”

The main issue is the organizations’ insistence that the tolls are unjustifiably high because of the $450 million transfer Turnpike Commission has to send annually to PennDOT to finance non-turnpike projects.

The groups believe it is not fair to ask turnpike users to finance work for projects they do not benefit from.

The plea to the highest court in the nation comes four months after the associations’ arguments were rejected by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit. There, it was found that Pennsylvania’s payment of contested costs through turnpike tolls was authorized by Congress and as such does not violate the Constitution.

Read more about the issue at the Penn Live by clicking here.

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