- OTA Delays Vote on Toll Hikes as Litigation Looms over Bond Financing and Expansion Projects
- Arkansas Studies Tolling for I-49 Project
- PA Pike's CEO Makes Case for Toll Enforcement Legislation
- Study Touts Impact of PA Pike's $1.7 Billion Mon-Fayette as Its Future Is on the Bubble
- MA Mayor Asks for "Grace Period" before Turnpike's AET System Goes Live
- Boston Herald Editorial: Don't Sweat AET, People. Now about that Putin Guy . . .
- Moroun Family Eyeing "Legal Hail Marys" to Block or Delay Gordie Howe Bridge
- East End Crossing Construction Enters the Homestretch
- Governor Christie Flew the "Chairman's Flight" that Led to Samson Guilty Plea
- Sault Ste. Marie Bridge Authority Switches Up Capital Plan
- Truck Traffic Begins at the Anzalduas Bridge
- Bloomberg Columnist Writes, "Don't Lowball the Upside of Fixing Roads and Bridges"
- LA Metro Taps CH2M Team for HOV Lanes Project
- VDOT: I-66 Widening Finished on Time and on Budget
- Nissan Releases Self-Driving Car
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OTA Delays Vote on Toll Hikes as Litigation Looms over Bond Financing and Expansion Projects
Tulsa World reports, “The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority on Tuesday [August 23] voted to table a proposal to increase tolls to pay for a system expansion. Member Carl Gibson said a decision on the measure should be delayed due to a recently filed lawsuit and other issues.” [Link added.] The report adds, “The toll increase is needed to pay off the proposed sale of bonds to fund the [$935 million] Driving Forward initiative.”
Oklahoma Turnpike Authority (OTA)Arkansas Studies Tolling for I-49 Project
KFSM News reports that the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department has set aside $300,000 for its tolling study for the next phase of the I-49 project. The report adds, “The issue is whether enough people use the highway and would be willing to pay the toll. ‘The state highway department already has toll authority, so we would be able to execute a toll study and really get into providing a toll system in the state,’ [according to spokesman Danny Straessle.]”
ArkansasPA Pike's CEO Makes Case for Toll Enforcement Legislation
Central Penn Business Journal staffs a presentation by Pennsylvania Turnpike CEO Mark Compton to a local business group, leading with the commission’s push for broader toll enforcement legislation (Senate Bill 1086). The one percent of the motorists who don’t pay their toll “leave the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission to pursue about $35 to $40 million per year.” Most of that money is ultimately collected, but Compton noted that the losses would fund “a really nice bridge project.”
Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) ScofflawsStudy Touts Impact of PA Pike's $1.7 Billion Mon-Fayette as Its Future Is on the Bubble
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports, “As with many things in life, the future of the proposed extension of the Mon-Fayette Expressway hinges on the delicate balance between the cost and the benefit of the 13-mile toll road.” The article focuses on a TRIP report, which found that the project “would generate 5,850 construction jobs over four years and 20,780 permanent jobs in and around the economically struggling Mon Valley.” The report adds that the PTC “is awaiting a report next month on the cost and need for all of its capital projects before it decides whether to proceed with the Mon-Fayette extension.”
Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC)MA Mayor Asks for "Grace Period" before Turnpike's AET System Goes Live
WesternMassNews.com reports, “A possible delay could be coming for the Mass. Turnpike all-electronic tolling project,” adding that, “The mayor of Braintree is asking for this grace period to give drivers enough time to sign up for E-ZPass transponders.” The report adds, “MassDOT told Western Mass News that there is no definitive answer at this time as to if they will allow that time.”
AET (All-Electronic Tolling) Massachusetts TurnpikeBoston Herald Editorial: Don't Sweat AET, People. Now about that Putin Guy . . .
Boston Herald editors are advising drivers to, uh, relax as the Mass Pike gears up for AET, writing, “Get ready for an outpouring of fear and loathing as the Massachusetts Turnpike readies its new open road tolling system.” The editors cite privacy “zealots” and the debate over the AET system’s “hot list” capability. In the end, the editors advise, “So take a deep breath people — that includes the American Civil Liberties Union — and worry about something real, like whether Vladimir Putin is reading your email.”
AET (All-Electronic Tolling) Massachusetts TurnpikeMoroun Family Eyeing "Legal Hail Marys" to Block or Delay Gordie Howe Bridge
Detroit Free Press reports, “The Moroun family that owns the Ambassador Bridge could soon launch a few legal Hail Marys to try to block or delay the rival Gordie Howe International Bridge — including possibly arguing that the Michigan Constitution prohibits using eminent domain to seize private property for a Canada-led project.”
Gordie Howe Int'l Bridge Issues of Law MichiganEast End Crossing Construction Enters the Homestretch
WDRB News reports, “The first beams connecting the Kentucky and Indiana sides of the East End Crossing have been laid. An East End crossing spokesperson says the work to finish the final patch should be done in the next week and half. Then the main work left is paving.”
Indiana Kentucky Louisville-Southern Indiana Ohio River BridgesGovernor Christie Flew the "Chairman's Flight" that Led to Samson Guilty Plea
The Bergen Record reports, “Gov. Chris Christie flew to South Carolina in 2013 on a United Airlines flight that would later become known to the public as the ‘Chairman’s Flight,’ a money-losing route created to benefit his mentor and former Port Authority Chairman David Samson, his office confirmed [on August 23].” The air route ultimately led to Samson’s recent guilty plea for “using his position at the Port Authority as leverage to bribe the airline into restoring the flights from Newark to South Carolina.”
PANYNJSault Ste. Marie Bridge Authority Switches Up Capital Plan
SooToday.com reports, “Capital projects at the Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge are being rescheduled in an effort take advantage of new technology and to save money.” The article also covers last week’s quarterly meeting of the authority’s board.
Truck Traffic Begins at the Anzalduas Bridge
The Monitor (McAllen, TX) reports, “As a mariachi band played, the first trucks officially crossed the Anzalduas International Bridge on Monday afternoon [August 22].” The new facility enables truck drivers to increase the number of trips they can make across the border in a single day.
TexasBloomberg Columnist Writes, "Don't Lowball the Upside of Fixing Roads and Bridges"
Bloomberg columnist Noah Smith looks at Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, and their contest to become the next “infrastructure president.” Smith contends that “in the U.S., the automatic pooh-poohing of infrastructure spending does us a disservice. As a group, our elites downplay the benefits and inflate the cost of what we used to call internal improvements.”
LA Metro Taps CH2M Team for HOV Lanes Project
SCVnews.com reports, “The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has selected a team led by CH2M to provide the plans, specifications and estimates for the design of new high occupancy vehicle lanes along Interstate 5 in both directions between State Route 14 in Santa Clarita and Parker Road in Castaic.”
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro)VDOT: I-66 Widening Finished on Time and on Budget
WTOP News reports, “After more than two years of work, a four-mile stretch of Interstate 66 has been widened.” The report adds, “VDOT says the $64.5 million project was finished on time and on budget. Its completion means three regular lanes and one HOV lane are now available to drivers in each direction for 25 miles between the Capital Beltway and Route 15.”
Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) Washington (DC) Metro RegionNissan Releases Self-Driving Car
Bangkok Post reports, “Nissan Motor Co has released a vehicle that can automatically control its own steering, acceleration and braking when on a single expressway lane, the company said [today, August 24], becoming the first Japanese manufacturer to launch a self-driving car.”
Self-Driving Vehicles