Being from Pennsylvania, I can see both sides of this.  The state desperately needs money for roads funds - PA has an exceptionally dense highway network, and yet much of it covers some very unforgiving territory (Appalachian Mountains) and a climate that's harsh on roads.  PA also gets a LOT of truck traffic - a cursory glance at a map will show you that the vast majority of goods being trucked to and from New England and the New York City / northern New Jersey ports is going to make its way through Pennsylvania one way or another if it's heading west.  All of that ends up meaning that PA has a lot of bad roads that really need repair.

That said, neither option is particularly palatable.  Interstate 80 has become a vital commuter road for people living in northern Pennsylvania - it's not just a throughway for traffic going across the state.  If I80 is tolled, it will create a traffic nightmare for the entire area as commuter traffic is forced back onto local roads, which weren't designed to handle the loads (because I80 was assumed to be able to take the overflow).  It will also probably put a real damper on the area's economy.  Northeast PA used to rely on coal and manufacturing, but both of those industries fell by the wayside in the 1960s-1980s period.  Recently the local economies have picked up again, but a lot of that is based on the fact that the area is relatively centrally located and a good place to put trucking / shipping hubs (due to the intersections of I80, a major East / West highway, and I81, a major North / South highway).  If I80 is tolled, a lot of those companies will probably either move or go out of business.  Amazon.com is currently planning to build a warehouse / shipping center at the I80 / I81 interchange - if the tolling bill goes through, that may never happen.

Selling the Turnpike isn't all that great of an option either, however.  The Turnpike is almost as important to the southern part of the state as I80 is to the northern part, and it's not clear to me that having  a private company in control of such an important piece of public infrastructure is in anyone's best interest.  The price also seems a bit low - were it higher, that would be a bit easier to stomach.  On the other hand, the Turnpike commission is a hotbed of corruption, nepotism, and mismanagement.  Despite very high tolls (it's one of the most expensive toll highways in the nation) the road is poorly maintained and needs substantial upgrading in many areas.  It's hard to see how a private company could do any worse than the Turnpike commission is already doing.

Because of this, I ultimately favor selling the Turnpike over tolling I80, if that's the choice that has to be made, but ideally I'd like to see the Turnpike commission cleaned up and the road run in a more efficient way, so that money can be taken from the Turnpike tolls and used to improve other state roads without having to sell the Turnpike.  While I'm dreaming, I'd also like a pony.

"The main ammunition used in this war is an array of media ads and web sites assuring the public that their side is telling the truth. In the middle is every person who might be using the nation's first long-distance rural highway over the next 75 years."

We've had the same shit on our stretch of I-80 through Ohio.  The debts were paid off years ago, and the tolls were supposed to go away.  Guess what?  They never did.  I don't think they ever will.  Same thing with the PA turnpike.  It's bad enough for us cage-pilots, but hell on the truckers.  The savvy ones have taken to using US30, US18, I-90, and others instead.  

The state is hell-bent on adding another lane to I-80, but no one is going to use it.  A complete waste of money, if ever there was.  I should have been a cement contractor and cashed in on the deal.  

there's only one way to find out...

As the slow motion train wreck of the US fiscal system continues, I think the future is clear for transportation: metered access.

We'll start with toll roads, then switch to variable rates for tolls based on time, then variable rates based on time and vehicle used on all highways, finally you'll have per-mile pricing for all roads.

Use of roads will become like the use of electricity - a utility. This will have interesting social effects as the poor becomes further trapped in ghettos and the advent of private road systems makes a booming comeback.

Just remember kids -- all temporary tax increases are permanent.

Memory is a strange bell, jubilee and knell.