- Judge Dismisses AAA Lawsuit Challenging PANYNJ's Use of Toll Dollars for World Trade Center
- South Norfolk Jordan Bridge Will Offer a Black Friday Deal
- Officials Halt Plan to Convert Bob Sikes Bridge to AET
- Card Sound Toll Authority to Vote on Preparation of Automated Tolling RFP
- IL Tollway Opens New Jane Addams Tollway Ramps as $2.5 Billion I-90 Project Nears Completion
- Officials Celebrate Wrap-Up of ORB's $1.3 Billion Downtown Crossing Project
- Sault Ste. Marie Bridge Board Appoints Chair, Vice Chair for 2017
- Conference Board of Canada Report Hits "Hasty Solution of Tolls"
- Blue Water Bridge Workers Set to Strike This Morning
- Planners Considering Dedicated Lanes from TX 360 to President Bush Turnpike (Tolling an Open Question)
- GDOT's I-75 Reverse Express Lanes Project Nears Completion
- Former Expressway Authority Official Batterson Is Jailed
- PA Turnpike Earns Editorial Support for Decisions on Capital Spending, Push to End $450 Million in Transit Payments
- In Change of Plans, Mass Turnpike Construction Workers Will Punch Out Early on Thanksgiving Eve
- OH Turnpike Wrapping Up 2016 Construction Program
- PANYNJ Police Arrest NJ Man with Five E-ZPass Accounts and $20,000 in Unpaid Tolls and Fees
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Judge Dismisses AAA Lawsuit Challenging PANYNJ's Use of Toll Dollars for World Trade Center
Reuters reports, “A federal judge . . . dismissed a lawsuit by AAA, the automobile club, that challenged the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s 2011 decision to earmark increased toll revenue for the World Trade Center site instead of for transportation. [The judge] rejected claims by local chapters of the AAA [auto club] that the Port Authority’s five-year plan to raise tolls at its bridges and tunnels violated the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution and the 1987 federal Highway Act.”
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ)South Norfolk Jordan Bridge Will Offer a Black Friday Deal
The Virginian-Pilot reports, “Even toll bridges are getting into Black Friday deals. The South Norfolk Jordan Bridge is offering half-priced tolls all day on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Drivers with an E-ZPass will be charged $1 instead of the regular $2 rate.” The bridge, opened to traffic in 2012, is owned by its private developers.
South Norfolk Jordan Bridge VirginiaOfficials Halt Plan to Convert Bob Sikes Bridge to AET
Pensacola News-Journal reports, “Escambia County commissioners have pumped the brakes on a plan to stop accepting cash at the Bob Sikes Bridge toll plaza on Pensacola Beach. The commissioners voted unanimously Thursday [November 17] to rescind a prior decision to move to an automated, toll-by-plate system.” Responding to concerns that they had not obtained enough public input on the conversion plan, commissioners decided “they will leave the current toll system in place – three cash lanes and one SunPass lane – until the board and the public could come to a consensus on the best way to move forward.”
AET (All-Electronic Tolling) FloridaCard Sound Toll Authority to Vote on Preparation of Automated Tolling RFP
FlKeysNews.com reports, “Another step toward turning Monroe County’s Card Sound Road toll collection into an automated system goes to county commissioners Tuesday [November 22]. County staff seeks approval to sign a contract for $107,858 with HDR Engineering Inc. to prepare [design/build RFP] documents for the ‘Card Sound Toll Authority All Electronic Tolling system upgrade.’” For more information, click here and scroll down to agenda packet page 791.
Card Sound (FL) Toll AuthorityIL Tollway Opens New Jane Addams Tollway Ramps as $2.5 Billion I-90 Project Nears Completion
Daily Herald reports, “Illinois tollway leaders opened up ramps on two key Jane Addams Tollway interchanges Friday [November 18] as they race to keep their promise of finishing a massive project by the end of 2016 that has kept drivers simmering. The I-90 mainline between the Elgin Toll Plaza and Tri-State Tollway will be widened to four lanes in each direction, and multiple interchanges will be improved by Dec. 31, officials said . . . before activating completed ramps at Meacham and Roselle roads.” The report adds, “The $2.5 billion, 62-mile I-90 rebuild and widening, which includes a completed stretch between Rockford and Elgin, is being funded with a toll increase instituted in 2012.”
Click here to read a tollway news release on the opening.
Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (IL Tollway)Officials Celebrate Wrap-Up of ORB's $1.3 Billion Downtown Crossing Project
Louisville Business First reports, “The orange construction barrels that have been more than a hindrance to downtown commuters between Louisville and Jeffersonville are starting to peel away as the major work on the nearly $1.3 billion Downtown Crossing [link added] has wrapped up on budget and slightly ahead of time. . . . [In addition to building the new Abraham Lincoln Bridge and rehabilitating the John F. Kennedy Bridge] crews with Chicago-based Walsh Construction Co. built more than 60 new ramps and overpasses and nearly 50 miles of new roadway. More than 800 crew members worked on the bridge at construction’s peak, according to bridges officials.”
Louisville-Southern Indiana Ohio River BridgesSault Ste. Marie Bridge Board Appoints Chair, Vice Chair for 2017
WLUC News (Marquette, MI) reports that the Sault Ste. Marie Bridge Authority board of directors named Micheline Dubé (president and CEO of Canada’s Federal Bridge Corporation) as chair and Thomas Buckingham, Sr., as vice chair for 2017. At their meeting last week, the authority also received the results of the annual inspection of the International Bridge (its overall condition is good and “there are no serious issues”) and an update on the progress of the $8.9 million toll plaza project.
CanadaConference Board of Canada Report Hits "Hasty Solution of Tolls"
Toronto Sun reports, “Road tolls may not be the most effective way to get rid of gridlock. A new Conference Board of Canada report released [on November 18] . . . warns the hasty solution of tolls may mean pricing people out of their cars — and ending up without the expected revenue to fund infrastructure projects.” The newspaper adds that the report, commissioned by the Canadian Automobile Association South Central Ontario, backs other tools, “including freeway ramp metering, reversible lanes, time-of-day truck traffic restrictions, parking controls and support for ride-sharing, public transit, cycling and walking, before committing to a congestion control strategy.” Click here to download the report, “Congestion Costs, Road Capacity and Implications for Policy-Makers” (free account creation required), and click here to read the CAA news release.
CanadaBlue Water Bridge Workers Set to Strike This Morning
Sarnia Observer reports, “Unionized workers at the Blue Water Bridge have given notice they intend to go on strike at 6 a.m. Monday [November 21]. The 47 workers, members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, include toll collectors, currency exchange workers, cleaners and maintenance staff. The Federal Bridge Corporation, which operates the Canadian half of the crossing between Point Edward and Port Huron, Mich., said Sunday in a press release the bridge will remain open during the labour disruption.” [Link added.]
Canada Federal Bridge Corporation Ltd. (Canada) MichiganPlanners Considering Dedicated Lanes from TX 360 to President Bush Turnpike (Tolling an Open Question)
Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports, “Regional transportation planners have a new idea that could solve the traffic jams on Interstate 20 between Texas 360 and the President George Bush Turnpike. They are studying the possibility of building dedicated lanes to take drivers from Texas 360 to the turnpike, allowing them to skip over I-20 altogether. Drivers on the turnpike could also connect seamlessly to Texas 360.” The report adds, “Michael Morris, director of transportation for the North Central Texas Council of Governments, said these collector distributor roads are just one option being considered. It’s too early to say if they would be toll lanes or if they would be elevated above I-20, Morris said.”
North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA) TexasGDOT's I-75 Reverse Express Lanes Project Nears Completion
WSB (Atlanta) reports, “The express lane project on Interstate 75 through Henry and Clayton counties is almost complete. The Georgia Department of Transportation said the 12 miles of reversible toll lanes are set to open in late January. They’ll run north each morning, then flip to flow southbound in the afternoons.”
Express Lanes Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT)Former Expressway Authority Official Batterson Is Jailed
Orlando Sentinel reports, “Out on bail for two years to appeal his bribery conviction, Scott Batterson went to jail Friday [November 18] after a court hearing lasting slightly longer than it took to handcuff the former Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority member. Batterson, 40, faces 7-1/2 years in prison from a 2014 conviction.” A ruling is still pending on Batterson’s motion for a reduction of the length of his sentence.
Crime Beat FloridaPA Turnpike Earns Editorial Support for Decisions on Capital Spending, Push to End $450 Million in Transit Payments
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial board agrees with the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s review of its capital plan and the agency’s decision to “proceed as planned” and not kill any projects. The review was sparked by mounting debt and toll rates – due largely to state law that mandates annual payments to the state for mass transit projects. The editors add, “Meanwhile, the turnpike should continue working on getting out from under that $450 million annual payment to PennDOT — it drops to $50 million in several years — and to collecting more than $49 million owed by toll scofflaws. When the scofflaws don’t pay their share, the rest of us have to dig deeper.”
Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC)In Change of Plans, Mass Turnpike Construction Workers Will Punch Out Early on Thanksgiving Eve
The Hull Times repots, “After originally saying construction crews would remain on the turnpike until noon Wednesday [November 23], the Baker administration now says the crews will cease work by 5 a.m., ensuring that droves of travelers flowing in, out, and within Massachusetts on one of the busiest travel days of the year won’t also have to compete with road workers.”
AET (All-Electronic Tolling) Massachusetts TurnpikeOH Turnpike Wrapping Up 2016 Construction Program
The Blade (Toledo) reports, “Work is nearly done on the Ohio Turnpike’s construction program for 2016, with two major projects in northwest Ohio among those now nearly complete. The Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission announced [last week] that all lanes had reopened along a five-mile stretch in Erie County where the original eastbound lanes were rebuilt this year.”
Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure CommissionPANYNJ Police Arrest NJ Man with Five E-ZPass Accounts and $20,000 in Unpaid Tolls and Fees
Silive.com reports, “A 59-year-old New Jersey man was arrested at the Outerbridge Crossing for allegedly owing $20,869 in tolls and fees, according to the Port Authority Police.” The article adds that the man has five E-ZPass accounts and a combined 323 violations.
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) Scofflaws