Daily News Briefs, February 20, 2017

Bayonne Bridge Becomes PANYNJ's First All-Cashless Facility Today

SILive.com reports, “When the Bayonne Bridge’s new elevated roadway opens to drivers on Monday, Feb. 20, the 85-year-old arch bridge will become the Port Authority’s first all-cashless tolling facility. . . .” Steven Plate, the Port Authority’s chief of major capital projects, tells the website, “On February 20, we will make history. The Bayonne Bridge, a marvel of 20^th century engineering, will become a groundbreaking innovation of the 21^st century.” [Link added.]

SILive.com also provides an AET primer and reports, “The tolling system is already used by the MTA for seven bridges and two tunnels. The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge is set to debut the system this summer. The MTA plans to have the system installed at each of its bridges and tunnels by the end of 2017.”

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WV Governor Jim Justice on Lawmakers Who Just Don't Get the Need for Highway Funding: Knuckleheads

MetroNews reports, “On Friday [February 17], while addressing a crowd during ‘Transportation Day’ at the state Capitol, Governor Justice reached for just the right word to describe lawmakers who remain skeptical of his $2.8 billion infrastructure proposal.” The word was “knuckleheads.” The governor proposes to raise turnpike tolls to pay for bonds for other road projects.

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Lawmakers, Citing Negative Economic Impact, Try Once Again to Compel MDTA to Move I-95 Bridge Tolling Point

Cecil Whig reports, “Cecil County’s state senators have again introduced legislation [SB 1090] to remove and relocate the toll plaza a mile north of the Millard Tydings Memorial Bridge on Interstate 95 between Havre de Grace and Perryville.” The lawmakers maintain that the bridge toll point “deters businesses, commuters and tourists from coming to Cecil County. Chris Moyer, Cecil County’s economic development director, said that the toll has a negative impact on the county’s economy.” MDTA has not taken a position on this bill, but opposed a similar measure that failed to pass in 2014.

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WA Lawmakers Revisit I-5 Bridge Replacement

KOIN reports, “Washington legislators are once again revisiting the idea of a new bridge over the Columbia River between Portland and Vancouver. Rep. Sharon Wylie, D-Vancouver, and Rep. Liz Pike, R-Camas, have both filed legislation to begin the process of planning a new bridge. Pike filed House Bill 1222, which seeks to create a work group consisting of legislators from both [Washington and Oregon] to discuss bridge ideas.” The report adds, “Wylie filed House Bill 2095, which seeks to start preliminary work to develop a process for planning an Interstate 5 bridge replacement.”

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Alameda County Transportation Commission's I-580 Express Lanes and Waze Carpools App Earn Props

KRON posts an in-depth video report on the success of the Alameda County Transportation Commission’s I-580 Express Lanes program and on a new Waze carpool service that the Bay Area’s Metropolitan Transportation Commission endorses.

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Missouri Lawmakers Study "All Possibilities for I-70"

Missourinet.com reports that House Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Reiboldt (R-Neosho) says “lawmakers are currently studying all possibilities to replace crumbling I-70 and transportation in general.” Reiboldt tells the website, “Toll roads aren’t very popular, but they’re popular with some people. A gas tax increase, perhaps a few fee increases, but these are ideas that we’re all just kicking around right now.” He also notes that it is likely there will be no legislative action this year on I-70. The report adds that MoDOT still has “‘conditional provisional’ approval from the Federal Highway Administration to rebuild I-70 as a toll road. Voters would likely have to approve that, depending on how any enabling legislation is written.”

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Gasparilla Island Bridge Authority Leaders Earn Another Term as Agency Readies to Make Repairs

Boca Beacon reports that the Gasparilla Island Bridge Authority board voted last week to give the chair and vice chair another term. The report adds that the engineering committee chair had some bad news: “The technical problem in the machinery of the swing bridge that has been discussed in the past will definitely need to be fixed, and it could be costly.” The board also approved preparation of an RFP to replace a truck scale.

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The Voters Have Spoken and the Winner Is . . . The Chicago Skyway's $5 Toll

Chicago Tribune columnist Eric Zorn wrapped up his poll asking readers if the Chicago Skyway’s toll was worth the investment and reports that of the 600 responses, “Fifty-six percent of you said you usually choose the Skyway over the cheaper, longer route.” (The column is worth a quick read, as is Zorn’s set-up from last week.)

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Kansas Financial Woes Kill Plans for New Missouri River Bridge -- Tolled or Not

St. Joseph News-Press reports, “The Kansas Department of Transportation is unable to proceed with plans for a new Missouri River bridge [at Leavenworth] due to the state’s lingering financial issues.” It adds, “Tolling, one component thought [of] as an expedient means of replacing the bridge, has been dismissed by the engineering study” and a program review committee.

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New Bill Would Authorize Construction of a Maine Turnpike Spur

Sun Media Group reports, “[Maine] Rep. Andrew McLean, D-Gorham, who represents parts of Gorham and Scarborough, is sponsoring a bill that would authorize construction of a turnpike spur to Gorham. McLean, House chairman of the Transportation Committee, expects the bill to be out of the Legislature’s Revisor’s Office next week. Under McLean’s bill, the Maine Turnpike Authority would be granted permission to build and maintain a spur that links Gorham with the turnpike.”

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AET's "Time Has Come" Say Editors of New Hampshire Daily

The Foster’s Daily Democrat editorial board writes, “Toll plazas have become roadblocks. However, technology and commonsense have combined to provide a better alternative to the toll plazas with its cash booths. One that is virtually accident-free, more environmentally sound, markedly less expensive, more economically efficient and, perhaps most importantly, geared for the free flow of traffic at highway speeds. It is called all-electronic tolling, or AET, and its time has come.”

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Pennsylvania Turnpike to Hold Open House on Widening Project near Pittsburgh

Valley News Dispatch reports, “A project to widen the Pennsylvania Turnpike from four to six lanes between the Allegheny Valley and Pittsburgh interchanges will kick off with related projects in Plum and Monroeville. That preliminary work could stretch from next year to 2021, the Turnpike Commission said. The commission has scheduled an open house Thursday [February 23] at Plum High School for visitors to look at plans for four ‘early action’ projects. . . .”

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Indiana Toll Road Gets a Jump Start on Finishing Its $200 Million Paving Project

WNDU reports, “Due to the mild weather, construction workers are getting a jump start on finishing the 80/90 PUSH Project. [Link added.] Toll road officials say they hope getting back at it now will help them finish the project before the busy travel season this summer.”

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Ontario Nixes Contractor Bonuses for Asphalt Quality after Report Details Tampering

Canadian Press reports, “Ontario will stop giving highway contractors certain bonuses for asphalt quality after the auditor general reported some were tampering with samples. It’s one of several dozen items the Liberal government says it will address in an Action Plan for Highway Construction Contracts and Oversight released Friday [February 17].” [Link added.]

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Toronto Star Columnist Goes to Bat for Tolls

Toronto Star Columnist Royson James says Toronto needs to get smart about new revenue sources, including tolls: “Tolls have benefits and negatives. But it is no tool to sneeze at, especially when the tool box is slammed shut by our own allergy to higher taxes and failure of the provincial and federal governments to provide permanent help.”

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