- VA Transportation Board Advances $2.3 Billion, I-66 Toll Lanes P3 to Commercial Close
- Lawmakers Studying NJ Transit Could Recommend Merger with NJ Turnpike and NJDOT
- PANYNJ Considers Adding Bus/HOT Lane through Lincoln Tunnel
- Ontario Premier Wynne Implies Liberal Party Won't Block Toronto Toll Plan
- Group Threatens to File Endangered Species Act Suit to Stop Texas SH 45SW Project
- Ohio River East End Bridge Scheduled to Open on December 18
- C-470 Expansion Project, Addition of Toll Lanes Is Underway
- PA Turnpike Expected to Award Contract for $170 Million Scranton Beltway in January
- FDOT Says Construction of First Coast Expressway Is Behind Schedule
- WI Funding Fight Heats Up as DOT Secretary Gottlieb Draws Fire from Lawmakers
- MTA's Fare, Toll Hike Proposals Slammed in Queens
- OTA Approves Toll Hikes
- South Norfolk Jordan Bridge Tolls Going Up
- NC Governor-Elect Cooper to Confront Ongoing Issues, Including I-77 Express Lanes
- Tacoma Narrows Bridge Advisory Committee Meets Tonight to Review Revenue Forecast
- Spoof Xmas Song Mocking UK's "Dartford Tolls" Has One Million Views on YouTube, Facebook
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VA Transportation Board Advances $2.3 Billion, I-66 Toll Lanes P3 to Commercial Close
WTOP reports that Virginia’s Commonwealth Transportation Board was briefed yesterday, and will vote today, December 7 (scroll down to agenda items 16 and 17) on “steps needed to reach ‘commercial close’ — the signing of a public-private partnership contract — on the deal that would bring the toll lanes to 22 miles of I-66 from the Beltway to University Boulevard in Gainesville, Virginia. A source with knowledge of the situation told WTOP that the commercial close for the $2.3 billion agreement with a group of private companies to design, build and operate the lanes will happen this week. The financial side of the deal is scheduled to close by next summer.”
Express Lanes P3 & Privatization VirginiaLawmakers Studying NJ Transit Could Recommend Merger with NJ Turnpike and NJDOT
NJ.com reports, “Merging NJ Transit with the state Department of Transportation and the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, and investing the savings into road, bridge and transit projects is one possible recommendation from a legislative committee looking into NJ Transit. After a third hearing by a Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Tuesday [December 6], State Senators Robert Gordon, D-Bergen, and John McKeon, D-Essex, who co-chair the panel, said a report from the committee could make that and other recommendations to lawmakers. The committee has been probing NJ Transit in the wake of a Sept. 29 train crash in Hoboken and questions about safety and reliability of its trains and buses.”
New Jersey New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA)PANYNJ Considers Adding Bus/HOT Lane through Lincoln Tunnel
NJ.com reports that the PANYNJ’s Xclusive Bus Lane (XBL), the weekday morning contra-flow lane that runs from the New Jersey Turnpike through the Lincoln Tunnel to the Manhattan bus terminal, is becoming more congested as the number of bus riders grows. PANYNJ spokesman Neal Buccino tells NJ.com that adding a “second XBL or a new bus/high-occupancy toll lane” is a possibility under consideration by the authority.
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ)Ontario Premier Wynne Implies Liberal Party Won't Block Toronto Toll Plan
CTV News reports that Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne issued a statement strongly implying that her party will not block the City of Toronto’s request for authority to toll the Don Valley and Gardiner Expressways, a measure Mayor John Tory recently proposed. Wynne’s statement came in response to a warning by the leader of the provincial opposition party, the Progressive Conservatives, that Liberals “will pay a political price” in the 2018 election if tolling receives approval.
Canada OntarioGroup Threatens to File Endangered Species Act Suit to Stop Texas SH 45SW Project
Austin American-Statesman reports, “The Save Our Springs Alliance, with one legal avenue to stopping construction of Texas 45 Southwest seemingly blocked and bulldozers already clearing land, has signaled it will challenge the project on other grounds. The environmental group last month sent the Texas Department of Transportation and the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority a ‘notice of intent to sue’ over Texas 45 Southwest, charging in the 14-page letter that the two agencies have violated the federal Endangered Species Act in pursuing the tollway’s [link added] construction.”
Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (CTRMA) Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT)Ohio River East End Bridge Scheduled to Open on December 18
The Courier-Journal reports, “The East End bridge will open to traffic on Dec. 18 following an afternoon ribbon-cutting ceremony with project officials and a public caravan across the new bridge, officials announced Tuesday [December 6].” As WDRB reports, a start date for toll collection has still not been announced. In contrast to the Downtown Crossing phase of the Ohio River Bridges project, “there are no bonuses for completing the eastern crossing early,” WDRB notes.
Louisville-Southern Indiana Ohio River BridgesC-470 Expansion Project, Addition of Toll Lanes Is Underway
Centennial Citizen reports, “Nighttime lane closures along C-470 have begun as work gets underway on an expansion of the freeway. . . . The biggest change to C-470 will be the addition of toll lanes, with two of them westbound between I-25 and Colorado Boulevard and one from Colorado to Wadsworth Boulevard, and one eastbound toll lane from Platte Canyon Road to I-25.” Click here for information about the CDOT project.
Colorado Department of TransportationPA Turnpike Expected to Award Contract for $170 Million Scranton Beltway in January
The Times-Tribune reports, “The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission plans to award a contract next month for preliminary design engineering on the proposed $170 million Scranton Beltway proposed to lessen I-81 traffic congestion.” The report adds, “The earliest the beltway could open is 2023, but turnpike officials have said the agency’s financial struggles could delay construction. Turnpike spokesman Carl DeFebo said a technical evaluation team is reviewing the proposals the commission received and will recommend who should get the job. That’s expected in mid-January, he said.”
Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC)FDOT Says Construction of First Coast Expressway Is Behind Schedule
The Florida Times-Union reports, “Construction of two of the three sections of the multi-lane First Coast Expressway [link added] . . . is behind schedule, according to Florida Department of Transportation officials, who cited a variety of factors for the delays. The expressway is a limited access toll facility [ ] touted by elected officials and economic development authorities in Clay [County] as being a gateway to new residential and commercial economic growth, which translates into an increased tax base.” The expressway will eventually connect I-95 in northern St. Johns County to I-10 in western Duval County and includes a new bridge over the St. Johns River, according to FDOT.
Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT)WI Funding Fight Heats Up as DOT Secretary Gottlieb Draws Fire from Lawmakers
Wisconsin Public Radio reports, “Wisconsin’s Department of Transportation Secretary told state lawmakers at a Tuesday [December 6] hearing that Gov. Scott Walker’s budget would worsen the state’s road funding challenges over the long term, even as he defended Walker’s budget as responsible and balanced. Lawmakers from both parties peppered . . . Gottlieb with questions about the budget, seizing on statements Gottlieb had made in previous years about the need to spend more on transportation to avoid dire consequences. The DOT’s budget for the next two years includes no new taxes or fees and relies on a mixture of borrowing and project delays to solve a roughly $1 billion shortfall.”
Wisconsin State Journal reports that the dispute among Republican lawmakers over how to increase transportation funding was in full view at the hearing.
WisconsinMTA's Fare, Toll Hike Proposals Slammed in Queens
Queens Chronicle reports, “About two dozen Queens residents and a handful of public officials spoke out Monday night [December 5] against some or all of the proposals for transit fare and bridge toll hikes being proposed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.” The MTA has two proposals on the table that would increase revenue by four percent in the next two years. “In either case, cash tolls on the Throgs Neck, Whitestone and Triborough-RFK bridge would increase 50 cents to $8.50, as would tolls at the Queens Midtown and Hugh L. Carey tunnels. E-Z Pass tolls would increase 22 cents to $5.76,” the report adds.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)OTA Approves Toll Hikes
The Oklahoman reports, “It could soon cost passenger car motorists 50 cents more to travel from Oklahoma City to Tulsa under a series of turnpike rate increases approved [December 6] by the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority. The board approved 12 percent across-the-board rate increases for drivers on all Oklahoma turnpikes, with implementation of the increases contingent on the Oklahoma Supreme Court approving the constitutionality of a pending bond issue. Authority members conditionally approved the toll increases to help pay for a proposed $480 million bond issue that would be used to help finance construction of a new east Oklahoma County toll road” and other Driving Forward program projects. Click here to see a new toll rate chart.
Oklahoma Turnpike Authority (OTA)South Norfolk Jordan Bridge Tolls Going Up
The Virginian-Pilot reports, “Tolls at the South Norfolk Jordan Bridge are going up 25 cents next year to $2.25. The increase takes effect Jan. 1. [On Monday, December 5], the Chesapeake Transportation Toll Facility Advisory Committee [link added] held a public hearing on the increase, but no one attended.” The newspaper adds that tolls started at two dollars when the bridge opened in 2012, “but then dropped to a promotional price of $1 in 2013, before rising to $1.50, $1.75 and back to the current rate. General Manager Kevin Crum said the goal is to have fair, reasonable increases over time.”
VirginiaNC Governor-Elect Cooper to Confront Ongoing Issues, Including I-77 Express Lanes
WSOC reports that North Carolina Governor-elect Roy Cooper — now that Governor Pat McCrory has conceded his reelection defeat – will face two tough issues, including opposition to the I-77 Express lanes project. “Cooper will . . . soon face questions from opponents of the state’s 50-year contract with a private company building toll lanes on Interstate 77. Many believe that the issue played a role in McCrory’s defeat, and now toll opponents want to know what the man who beat him can do for them. [Mecklenburg] County Commissioner Jim Puckett, also an outspoken critic of the toll lane contract, said toll opponents will be pressing Cooper for a face-to-face meeting very soon. ‘I expect him to look into the contract in detail and to investigate exactly what he can do as the governor,’ Puckett said.
Express Lanes North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT)Tacoma Narrows Bridge Advisory Committee Meets Tonight to Review Revenue Forecast
Kitsap Sun reports that the Tacoma Narrows Bridge Citizen Advisory Committee meets in public this evening, December 7, “for its annual review of the financial plan, revenue forecasts and other information.”
Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT)Spoof Xmas Song Mocking UK's "Dartford Tolls" Has One Million Views on YouTube, Facebook
BBC News reports, “A spoof news site has released a charity song for Christmas, mocking an infamous river crossing. Southend News Network’s song ‘Dartford Tolls’ has been viewed more than one million times on Facebook and YouTube. Written by the site’s [anonymous] creator, the ditty slams the Essex to Kent crossing’s regular traffic jams and ‘extortionate’ toll charges.”
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