- TX Lawmakers Give Final Approval to "Must-Pass" TxDOT Bill That Includes Caps on Penalties for Unpaid Tolls
- LA Metro Board Abandons 710 Tunnel Project
- Newspaper Calls Illinois Tollway's Dive into Route 53 Project "Momentous" and a "Game Changer"
- Cost for Jane Addams Tollway Exit Near O'Hare Climbs to $13 Million
- US Goes All In for a Proposed Toll Road . . . in Iraq
- CA Highway 156 Expansion Would Cost $365 Million, $100 Million More Than Previously Estimated
- Suicide Barrier Is the Golden Gate Bridge's Next Major Improvement, but Completing Earthquake Retrofit Looms
- Change Order Sparks Another Debate over Montgomery County Segment of Texas 249 Toll Project
- Missouri Opponents of I-70 Tolling, Not Satisfied with Budget Restriction, Push for Anti-Toll Referendum
- Trump's Proposal to Expand Tolling of Existing Interstates Could Be a Tough Sell in NJ
- Activists Cite Environmental Impact in Pressing Case for Removal of Grand Island Toll Barrier
- Local Officials Cite Communications Problems Surrounding NCDOT's I-77 Project
- Environmental Organization Joins Opposition to Private Rail, Toll Road Proposal in Illinois
- Colorado State Senator Questions Cost Differences Between Two Express Lane Projects
- Tappan Zee Baby Falcons Named via Online Contest
- New South Wales Rethinks Divestiture Terms as WestConnex Auction Approaches
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TX Lawmakers Give Final Approval to "Must-Pass" TxDOT Bill That Includes Caps on Penalties for Unpaid Tolls
Austin American-Statesman reports, “The Texas House and Senate Saturday [May 27] approved a compromise version of Senate Bill 312 [link inserted], the must-pass Texas Department of Transportation sunset bill, sending it on to Gov. Greg Abbott for his signature.” According to the article, the bill “retains the House’s strict cap on administrative fees and penalties for unpaid tolls” and restores a modified criminal penalty, but it “would prevent situations, such as have incurred in some cases over the past decade, where Texans runs up bills in the thousands or tens of thousands of dollars for unpaid tolls, fees and fines.” The report adds, “The final bill will also require local toll agencies, in most cases [exceptions are noted], to repay TxDOT grants used to help them build tollways.”
Texas Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT)LA Metro Board Abandons 710 Tunnel Project
Los Angeles Times reports that on Thursday, May 25, the proposal to connect two LA freeways via a toll tunnel “effectively died” when the LA Metro board voted unanimously to withdraw support and funding for the proposed $3.2-billion project. “Instead,” the Times reports, “the board voted to spend $700 million on a range of transportation fixes to ease congestion and other problems arising from traffic spilling onto the streets of Alhambra. . . .” The newspaper adds that board members characterized their action as “a significant departure from relying on new highways to accommodate the region’s growing population and transportation demands.”
Caltrans (CA Department of Transportation) Los Angeles (CA) Metro Region Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro)Newspaper Calls Illinois Tollway's Dive into Route 53 Project "Momentous" and a "Game Changer"
Daily Herald reports, “After years of angst over whether to extend Route 53 north into Lake County, the Illinois tollway moved with dizzying speed last week approving a $25 million study of the project.” The newspaper calls the decision “momentous,” not least because the Illinois Tollway has made a commitment to finance the project without a toll increase or outside funding. “Promising to pay for the extension could be a game-changer,” says the newspaper.
Chicago Metro Area Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (IL Tollway)Cost for Jane Addams Tollway Exit Near O'Hare Climbs to $13 Million
Daily Herald reports, “The estimated cost of the planned eastbound Jane Addams Tollway exit at Lee Street has risen to $13 million, as the project scope has expanded, officials said. Illinois Tollway officials said the agency will pay at least half the cost, while Rosemont will be on the hook for $3 million and Des Plaines $1 million. It’s likely Chicago will also contribute to the project, which will be built near the northeast edge of O’Hare International Airport.”
Chicago Metro Area Illinois Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (IL Tollway)US Goes All In for a Proposed Toll Road . . . in Iraq
The New York Times reports, “The highway from Baghdad to Amman, Jordan, cuts through the insurgent badlands of the western Iraqi desert, and these days any truck driver risks confrontation with roving bands of gunmen. In the future, though, the United States envisions the road as something like the New Jersey Turnpike, with service stations, rest areas, cafes and tollbooths.” The report adds that “there is talk” about three other toll roads in Iraq.
Infrastructure Investment TrendsCA Highway 156 Expansion Would Cost $365 Million, $100 Million More Than Previously Estimated
Monterey Herald reports, “A Highway 156 toll road-funded expansion project would now cost $365 million even if it does begin construction in the next six years, about $100 million more than previously expected, according to the latest Caltrans cost estimate.” A Monterey County official tells the newspaper that the projected increase “is largely a result of delays in getting construction started, although about $43 million of the additional expense is related to farmland mitigation costs.”
California Caltrans (CA Department of Transportation)Suicide Barrier Is the Golden Gate Bridge's Next Major Improvement, but Completing Earthquake Retrofit Looms
The Mercury News marks the Golden Gate Bridge’s 80th birthday with an article on the landmark’s continuous maintenance operations and next biggest improvement, a suicide barrier projected to be completed in January 2021. The bridge district board “unanimously agreed in December to award the building contract to Oakland-based Shimmick/Danny’s Joint Venture. The project is expected to cost as much as $204 million.”
Marin Independent Journal reports, “A miniature Golden Gate Bridge will be built to test high winds the span sometimes faces, part of the work to protect the 110,000 people who use the span daily as seismic upgrade work continues.” Design of the bridge’s final seismic retrofit is underway, with project costs estimated to be $450 million to $500 million.
California Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District (GGBHTD) San Francisco Bay Area (CA)Change Order Sparks Another Debate over Montgomery County Segment of Texas 249 Toll Project
San Antonio Express-News reports, “In a 3-2 vote, the Montgomery County Toll Road Authority approved a second change order related to the $70 million Texas 249 toll road project.” The project has sparked debate among the Montgomery County Commissioners, who also sit as the toll authority, with one member arguing that TxDOT should be responsible for the county’s segment of the project.
Montgomery County (TX) Toll Road Authority Texas Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT)Missouri Opponents of I-70 Tolling, Not Satisfied with Budget Restriction, Push for Anti-Toll Referendum
St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports, “Opponents of making Interstate 70 a toll road convinced the Missouri Legislature this year to put anti-toll wording into the state Department of Transportation’s 2017-2018 budget. But they say that won’t necessarily kill the idea forever. So they’re going ahead with plans for an initiative petition drive aimed at getting the issue before Missouri voters next year.”
MissouriTrump's Proposal to Expand Tolling of Existing Interstates Could Be a Tough Sell in NJ
NJ.com reports that the Trump administration’s proposal to allow states to toll existing interstate highways may not be popular in New Jersey. “Assembly Transportation Committee Chairman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex) called it an effort to ‘off-load the federal responsibility for the interstate highway system onto the states.’” What does Governor Chris Christie think? A spokesman tells NJ.com the governor “has said several times recently that he would not respond to every action taken by Trump.”
New Jersey Trump Administration Infrastructure PlanActivists Cite Environmental Impact in Pressing Case for Removal of Grand Island Toll Barrier
WIVB reports that a grassroots group continues to press the New York Thruway to de-toll its Grand Island bridges. According to the station, Western New York for Grand Island Toll Barrier Removal hosted “an environmental and health summit” to publicize “a report from the state that links elevated levels of pollution on Grand Island to tailpipe emissions.”
New York New York State Thruway AuthorityLocal Officials Cite Communications Problems Surrounding NCDOT's I-77 Project
Fox 46 reports on some I-77 Express Lane project communication problems: Local officials complain they’re not getting timely information about project refinements, while NCDOT and I-77 Mobility Partners can’t get local officials to understand how a design-build project works.
I-77 Express Lanes (NC) North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) P3 & PrivatizationEnvironmental Organization Joins Opposition to Private Rail, Toll Road Proposal in Illinois
Chicago Tribune reports that the Environmental Law and Policy Center has filed to become a party of record in the federal government’s review of the Great Lakes Basin Transportation (GLBT) application to construct a private freight rail line and toll road. The newspaper notes, “The center challenged the proposed Illiana toll road in court on behalf of three area environmental groups,” and it asserts that it has members whose interests could be “harmed” if the GLBT application is approved.
Chicago Metro Area IllinoisColorado State Senator Questions Cost Differences Between Two Express Lane Projects
Longmont Times-Call reports that State Senator Matt Jones (D-Boulder County) “is unhappy with the Colorado Department of Transportation’s projected cost to improve Interstate 25. Specifically, he thinks CDOT gave Boulder and Adams counties residents the short end of the stick because CDOT is spending significantly more per mile on I-25 improvements . . . than it spent on improving U.S. 36. . . .”
Colorado Colorado Department of Transportation Express LanesTappan Zee Baby Falcons Named via Online Contest
Clarkstown Daily Voice reports, “Two local students from Ossining and Ardsley were announced the winners of the 2017 Falcon Naming Contest this week by officials with the New NY Bridge project. The winning names? Puente and Tarrytalon. The winners were decided through a week-long online public poll, featuring submissions from local students.”
Governor Mario Cuomo Bridge (Tappan Zee Replacement Bridge) New York New York State Thruway AuthorityNew South Wales Rethinks Divestiture Terms as WestConnex Auction Approaches
The Australian reports, “The next few weeks will be critical for prospective bidders for the WestConnex motorway network. . . . The widely held view around the market has been that about half of Sydney Motorways, which will own all three stages of WestConnex, will be divested. But now it is thought that perhaps it could be as much as 100 per cent. Another a point of contention is whether the tagging component of the new project for the toll roads will be considered in the offering.”
Australia