CLARION — The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission Wednesday held the first of eight meetings here to gather public comment about I-80 tolling.

Tolling along the 311-mile highway, which runs between the New Jersey and Ohio borders, has been heavily disputed.

"The disappointing thing to us is that there is a lot of misinformation out there," said Turnpike Commission spokesman Carl DeFabo. "Especially regarding where the money is going."

DeFabo said at the meeting that Act 44, the law addressing the state's transportation funding problems and allowing the partnership between the Turnpike Commission and the state Department of Transportation, prohibits toll money from funding mass transit.

That legislation was the biggest topic of the meeting, followed by the economic impacts of I-80 tolling.

But that information seemed little comfort to the more than 300 people who attended the open house meeting, most of whom wore lime-green stickers with "toll I-80" crossed out.

The stickers were handed out at the door by the Clarion Area Chamber of Business and Industry.

"If trucks are tolled, that money will be passed on to us, the consumer," said Tracy Becker, executive director of the chamber. "People will find secondary routes to avoid tolls, congesting our downtown areas."

The producers of manufactured housing said they feared not only the tolls, but whether toll plazas would accommodate large loads.

"Business has to make a business decision," said chamber member Barry Shein, who is CEO of The Commodore Corp. This manufactured housing company employs 700 people in Shippenville, Clarion and Emlenton.

"Pennsylvania should fund big cities by big city taxpayers," Shein said.

He said tolling I-80 places the burden of maintaining PennDOT's 40,000 miles of roads on one geographical area, namely the I-80 corridor.

Turnpike officials said only 40 percent of those funds would come from I-80 tolls and the rest would be provided by increased tolls on the Turnpike.

Clarion Mayor John Stroup, who also is the legislative chairman of the chamber, called the legislation that prompted tolling "more pay-raise politics."

"It was carried out as stealth-type legislation," said Stroup. "They repealed that (pay raise) law, we're hoping they repeal this."

Under Act 44, the Turnpike Commission would manage tolls under a 50-year lease with PennDOT. The law allows up to 10 toll collection sites.

According to a Turnpike Commission presentation, drivers traveling between those plazas could commute for free.

The tolls, scheduled to start in summer of 2010, would raise almost $2 billion a year for road and highway maintenance, about half of which would be used to maintain and improve I-80.

Toll rates are expected to mirror those of the Turnpike.

The forum was presided over by Frank Kemp, chief engineer for McCormick Taylor Inc., the company hired by the Turnpike Commission to implement Act 44.

"We're not here to change your opinion," Kemp said. "The main objective is to listen to ideas and concerns that people have."

Most of what Kemp said throughout the evening was met by jeers.

Traffic studies are being conducted to determine the best place for the toll plazas, and environmental impact studies must be undertaken before federal officialswill allow the project to progress.

State Reps. Scott Hutchinson, R-64th, and Fred McIlhattan, R-63rd, voiced their concerns on behalf of their districts.

"We're in a fight for our lives," said McIlhattan. "One side's going to win and one side's going to lose."

Kemp responded, "If we're in a fight, it is to save the transportation system."

Hutchinson said, "Our folks feel like we're being kicked while we're down economically."

Both representatives referenced a 2005 study commissioned by PennDOT suggesting alternatives to I-80 tolling to fund transportation, one of which called for a public-private partnership that would place the Turnpike in the hands of a private corporation and dissolve the Turnpike Commission.

Four of the commission's five members are appointed by the governor.

This suggestion was met with raucous applause.

"I find it hard to argue with the Turnpike Commission," said Dave Cox, chairman of Farmer's National Bank, which has six branches along I-80. "Ed Rendell should be here right now."

WHAT: Public forum on the Interstate 80 toll conversion projectWHEN: 4 to 8 p.m. Nov. 19WHERE: Grove City CollegeINFO: Presentations on the project will be made at 5 and 6:30 p.m. with time for people to ask questions. The project's Web site is www.paturnpike.com/I80.