- Despite Increases, California's Gas Tax Isn't Meeting Transportation Budget Needs
- Maryland Rejects Calls To Factor Rail Transit Into Bridge Rebuild Plan
- PennDOT Holds Town Hall Meeting On Sustainable Funding Options Tonight
- Final Opportunity For Public Comment On Mobile Bridge Proposal
- AASHTO Offers Guidance On Maintenance Of Small Movement Expansion Joints
- In Parts Of Europe, Traffic Volume Is Returning To Pre-COVID Levels
- These are just some of the toll industry developments TRN is following.
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Despite Increases, California's Gas Tax Isn't Meeting Transportation Budget Needs
Transport Topics reports, “Four years after the California Legislature boosted the gas tax in order to fix the state’s crumbling roads and bridges, California has spent billions and made some progress in repairs, but officials now say the funding is sufficient to complete less than half of the work needed. . . . [W]ith the gas tax set to increase again July 1, the campaign to fix roads and bridges is again stirring contention” among lawmakers and taxpayers. California’s costs of repair are high compared with other states’, and it suffered a drop in revenue during COVID-19’s reduction of auto travel. However, its transportation budget problem has other causes, including a backlog of deferred highway maintenance projects, the expanding demand on existing systems and needs resulting from unanticipated effects of climate change.
California Caltrans (CA Department of Transportation) Highway-Tunnel-Bridge Maintenance Infrastructure Investment TrendsMaryland Rejects Calls To Factor Rail Transit Into Bridge Rebuild Plan
The Washington Post reports, mass transit advocates claim something important is missing from Maryland’s express-lanes-focused proposal to widen the American Legion Bridge. They argue the current project plan is “shortsighted for not requiring that a new span be able to carry a rail line to Northern Virginia.” The rail concept’s detractors — including Maryland officials — say it is too speculative and “a new bridge widened with express toll lanes would significantly improve mass transit by carrying buses that could avoid getting bogged down in traffic.”
Express Lanes Maryland Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) Mass Transit Systems Virginia Washington (DC) Metro RegionPennDOT Holds Town Hall Meeting On Sustainable Funding Options Tonight
Courier Express reminds readers that PennDOT is hosting a telephone town hall tonight at 6:00 PM to discuss its Planning and Environmental Linkages study on sustainable transportation funding options, including the proposed Pathways Major Bridge P3 initiative. Advance registration is an option, but is not required.
Company and Agency Financial Issues And Reports Congestion Pricing Express Lanes P3 & Privatization Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) Road Use Charging (RUC-MBUF-VMT)Final Opportunity For Public Comment On Mobile Bridge Proposal
WKRG reports, the opportunity to comment on the latest proposal for a bridge and highway makeover in metro Mobile, Alabama, is drawing to a close tomorrow. Greater Mobile’s two MPOs will vote early next month on whether to include the project — conceived in cooperation with Alabama DOT — in long-term transportation plans.
GulfCoastNewsToday.com looks at the proposal’s three distinct phases. The first involves construction of a tolled, four-lane bridge for commercial trucks over the Mobile River and restriping of the Mobile Bayway to add an additional lane in each direction. In the second and third phases, another bridge would be built and the Mobile Bayway would be replaced.
Alabama Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) Baldwin County ALAASHTO Offers Guidance On Maintenance Of Small Movement Expansion Joints
AASHTO Journal reports on the association’s release of Guidelines for Maintaining Small Movement Bridge Expansion Joints, a new 130-page publication that “provides bridge maintenance practitioners with detailed procedures for replacing, repairing, and maintaining Small Movement Expansion Joints – known as ‘SMEJs.’ The guidelines” — available for download in PDF format — “define ‘small movement’ as an expansion joint with a total movement of 4 inches or less.” AASHTO notes, “[T]here has been a growing awareness of the need to develop detailed procedures for maintaining, repairing, and replacing SMEJs.”
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Highway-Tunnel-Bridge Maintenance Highway-Tunnel-Bridge Safety (Includes COVID-19 Impacts) Transportation and Infrastructure Research & DevelopmentIn Parts Of Europe, Traffic Volume Is Returning To Pre-COVID Levels
Bloomberg reports, “In parts of Europe, highways [and city streets] are getting as busy as they were before the pandemic, offering a boost to the region’s oil demand. Traffic on Spain’s toll roads was the closest to 2019 levels in at least 15 months last week, according to data from operator Atlantia. It’s a similar picture in France where highway use in the early weeks of May is only marginally down on 2019 levels. In Poland, agency figures show traffic levels are now higher than two years ago.” (One link deleted by TRN)
EU France Highway-Tunnel-Bridge Safety (Includes COVID-19 Impacts) Mundys (formerly Atlantia) Poland SpainThese are just some of the toll industry developments TRN is following.
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