Daily News Briefs, September 20, 2016

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MD Community and Business Leaders Push Hard for I-270 Improvements, Including Express Lanes

WTOP News reports, “A bipartisan group of community, business and political leaders gathered near Interstate 270 Monday morning [September 19], pointing to rush hour traffic on the highway and calling for changes they claim would reduce congestion. . . . The coalition is calling for improvements, such as new express toll lanes and regional bus rapid transit service along the I-270 corridor that stretches from the American Legion Bridge to Frederick.”

The Washington Post’s Dr. Gridlock adds, “The coalition wants to revive dormant state studies that could lead to the addition of express toll lanes, which could manage traffic and provide lane space and financial support for a regional rapid bus system.”

Express Lanes Maryland Washington (DC) Metro Region

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Bridgegate Trial Opens: Feds Say Christie Knew about Lane Closings. Defense Calls Star Prosecution Witness Bad Names.

The New York Times reports, “Gov. Chris Christie . . . knew that three of his top officials were involved in a plan to shut down lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge as it was happening and that the closings were intended to punish a local mayor for declining to support him, federal prosecutors said on [September 19]. The assertion was an unexpected and startling beginning to the trial of two former Christie administration officials charged with closing the lanes in 2013 and then covering it up. And it was a surprising claim because of the side of the courtroom it came from, as lawyers made opening statements.”

NJ.com reports that former PANYNJ official Bill Baroni’s defense counsel argued that the government has “made a deal with the devil,” referring to its “star witness” David Wildstein, a former Baroni aide who has already entered a guilty plea in the case. Baroni’s lawyer spared nothing, describing Wildstein as “an enforcer” feared and hated by his co-workers, a “horrible person,” and a person described by his acquaintances as “a miserable prick” and “an asshole.”

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ)

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IDOT's I-55 Managed Lanes RFI Kindles Considerable Interest

Crain’s Chicago Business columnist Greg Hinz writes, “[T]here sure is a lot of interest in preliminary plans by the Illinois Department of Transportation to expand I-55 (the Stevenson Expressway) by adding privately operated toll lanes in the road’s median. IDOT reports that 18 companies responded to its former Request for Information on the job, which would run from I-355 and I-90/94. Included were a ton of industry heavyweights, including AECOM, K-Five Construction, Macquarie Capital and Walsh Construction.” [Links added.]

Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT)

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PANYNJ Steps Up Security Following Bomb Explosions

NJ.com reports that security was increased at PANYNJ and other bi-state bridge and tunnel facilities because of the weekend bomb explosions in Manhattan and New Jersey. The article also notes that the New Jersey State Police “briefly shut down some northbound lanes of the Garden State Parkway Toms River Toll Plaza on Sunday night [September 18] . . . after someone reported a suspicious item on the shoulder. It turned out to be a suitcase, and posed no threat. . . .”

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (MTA Bridges and Tunnels)

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Drone Used to Inspect Ohio Turnpike Bridge Crashed after Demonstration

The Plain Dealer reports, “A drone used to inspect a bridge on the Ohio Turnpike last week crashed into the Sandusky River following a media demonstration.” The report adds, “The inspection . . . went well, according to Randy Cole, executive director of the turnpike. However, after the demonstration ended, the team from senseFly attempted to complete a final inspection of the bridge and the drone lost power and crashed into the water below.”

Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission

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Wisconsin Lawmakers Talk Up Tolling as Funding Impasse Persists

Wisconsin Public Radio reports that the state’s transportation funding stalemate “has more Wisconsin leaders talking about toll roads, including recently by Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette, co-chair of the Joint Finance Committee. [Governor Scott] Walker has said he opposes toll roads as a concept, but his administration is still conducting a feasibility study on them, with a report due in November.”

Wisconsin

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"No Signs" on US Side the Gordie Howe Bridge Is Coming Any Time Soon

Windsor Star reports, “Standing in the heart of the planned U.S. plaza of the Gordie Howe International Bridge there are no signs a new international border crossing — described as one of North America’s most important infrastructure projects — will be constructed any time soon.” According to the Star, critics of the property acquisition and demolition process on the US side of the border complain that progress is too slow and residents of the affected neighborhood are becoming frustrated. The newspaper also notes that “[t]he board of the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority is nine months behind in releasing the final bid documents to select a contractor for the bridge project.”

Canada Gordie Howe Int'l Bridge Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT)

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Peace Bridge Toll Plaza Hosts Test of Energy Generating Devices

The Buffalo News reports that a local company, Energy Intelligence, is getting ready to test a series of new energy generating modules in one lane of the Peace Bridge toll plaza, most likely on the Canadian side. “When a car or a truck drives over the module, it pushes down on the hydraulics inside, generating electricity that can be used to power nearby equipment,” the newspaper reports.

Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority

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CA Ballot Question on Infrastructure Called a "Skunk at the Establishment Picnic"

Los Angeles Times reports, “There’ll be a skunk at the establishment picnic on election day in California. It’s Proposition 53. That ballot initiative is an irritating pest for many who rely on giant government public works projects for their livelihood.” Click here for an official summary of the proposition, which requires statewide voter approval before any government project may be financed with more than $2 billion in state revenue bonds.

California

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FDOT Cracks Down on Express Lanes "Suicide-Commando-Like" Lane-Diving

Miami Herald reports, “State transportation engineers announced [on September 19] they’re ready to curb the dangerously illegal practice of lane-diving on Interstate 95 — the suicide-commando-like maneuver in which motorists plow through the flexible poles demarcating the highway’s tolled express lanes.”

Express Lanes Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT)

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Baltimore Ravens Players Hand Out Free Passes at Ft. McHenry Toll Plaza

CBS News Baltimore reports, “You may have seen some of the Baltimore Ravens’ finest paying for your tolls on Monday [September 19]. It’s all part of the ‘Pay It Forward’ campaign with Verizon Wireless and the Ravens.” Players Justin Tucker and Justin Forsett manned lanes 8 and 16 of the Fort McHenry Toll Plaza and handed our free passes to 400 motorists.

Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA)

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RITBA to Share Data with Waze

Associated Press reports, “The Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority has reached an agreement with popular cellphone navigation app Waze on a partnership to share traffic information.”

Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority (RITBA)

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TIC Launches Ad Campaign to Boost Port Mann Bridge Use

CKNW News (Vancouver) reports, “The Crown Corporation responsible for the Port Mann Bridge, Transportation Investment Corporation (TI Corps), is launching a $200,000 radio and billboard campaign. It encourages drivers to switch from the free Pattullo to the tolled Port Mann Bridge.”

British Columbia Canada

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Caltrans I-80 Smart Corridor Project Is "Fully Activated"

KPIX News reports that Caltrans has “fully activated” the $79 million SMART Corridor project, which “includes 159 electronic signs mounted on 11 structures” over a 20-mile stretch of I-80 from the Carquinez Bridge to the Bay Bridge. The report adds, “Sean Nozzari, with Caltrans traffic operations, says ‘with the project we have shaved 3 to 5 minutes from delays during peak periods.’”

California Caltrans (CA Department of Transportation)

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