- PA, NJ Turnpike Bridge to Be Closed for Two Weeks Due to Fractured Beam
- Engineers Examine Bridge to Determine If Beam Fracture Is Isolated Problem or "Systemic Issue"
- CT Lawmakers, Eying the Mass Turnpike AET System, Move Two Tolling Bills
- Hartford Courant, Citing Spread of AET, Backs Tolling
- OH Turnpike Sets Traffic Record for Second Year in a Row
- New Poll (Same Old Story?): Americans Want New Roads and Bridges. They Don't Want to Pay the Tab.
- Consensus Says that WV Turnpike Tolls are Here to Stay
- WA Lawmakers File Bills to Trim Costs, Stall Toll Hikes on Tacoma Narrows Bridge
- Indiana GOP Leaders Are Kicking the Tires on Tolling for New Construction and/or Express Lanes
- IL Tollway Will Improve Accident-Plagued Interchange Reconstructed in 2015 at a Cost of $19 Million
- MPO Approves Funding for New Toll Lanes on Texas Loop 1604
- Tolling Could Deliver Nova Scotia Highway Improvements "Decades Earlier"
- Fitch Rates OTA Revenue Bonds
- BATA and LA Metro Issues Are Scheduled for Pricing This Week
This is a Subscribers-Only area. If you are a subscriber, please login. If not...
Become a Subscriber Today »
PA, NJ Turnpike Bridge to Be Closed for Two Weeks Due to Fractured Beam
Associated Press reports, “Engineers will need at least two weeks to get a handle on the repairs needed to fix a heavily traveled bridge between Pennsylvania and New Jersey after one of its support beams fractured cleanly into two pieces — a highly unusual event that had some experts suspecting a flawed, six-decade-old weld.”
New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA) Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC)Engineers Examine Bridge to Determine If Beam Fracture Is Isolated Problem or "Systemic Issue"
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports, “Engineers working on the closed Delaware River Bridge face the task of determining whether a failed beam was an isolated case or something that could happen elsewhere on the structure. ‘They’d be interested in knowing if this is a systemic issue,’ said Carl DeFebo Jr., spokesman for the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission.” The commission closed the I-276 bridge that links the Pennsylvania and New Jersey Turnpikes on Friday afternoon, January 20, after discovery of a crack in a truss. The newspaper adds that “engineering experts say pictures of the fissure show signs of holes mistakenly drilled into the beams and then filled with plug welds. That was an approach not uncommon in the 1950s, when the bridge was built, but one modern engineers do not recommend because it can create a weak point in a steel beam.”
New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA) Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC)CT Lawmakers, Eying the Mass Turnpike AET System, Move Two Tolling Bills
WTNH reports, “The Democratic Chairman of the legislature’s Transportation Committee says that now that Massachusetts has torn down their toll booths on the Mass Pike and gone to all ‘electronic tolling‘ that Connecticut should be next.” The report adds, “Today [January 23], the Transportation Committee moved two ‘electronic tolling’ bills [PHB 5458 and PHB 6058] forward so there can be a public hearing on the issue by the end of this month.”
AET (All-Electronic Tolling) ConnecticutHartford Courant, Citing Spread of AET, Backs Tolling
The Hartford Courant editorial board backs tolling, writing, “With toll revenue, this state could start to fix its crumbling roads and bridges.” The newspaper notes that critics of tolling who point to a “horrific 1983 Stratford toll plaza crash that killed seven people” are misguided, given that “Massachusetts, New York and other states” are leading the way with cashless tolling. The editors add, “It might take Connecticut a few years to get tolls going, but once up, they could generate up to $62 billion over 25 years, said a state study.”
AET (All-Electronic Tolling) ConnecticutOH Turnpike Sets Traffic Record for Second Year in a Row
WFMJ reports, “For the second year in a row, more vehicles traveled on the Ohio Turnpike than any other year in its 61-year history. The total of 54.9 million vehicles in 2016 beat the previous record from one year ago (2015), which was 53.4 million. according to the Ohio Turnpike commission.”
Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure CommissionNew Poll (Same Old Story?): Americans Want New Roads and Bridges. They Don't Want to Pay the Tab.
Reuters reports, “Americans want a federal infrastructure program to focus on rebuilding aging roads and bridges, but are reluctant to use federal dollars for such projects, according to a Reuters polls released on Thursday, Dec. 19. The findings highlight a major challenge for a 10-year, $1 trillion infrastructure program incoming President Donald Trump has promised: Everyone wants infrastructure, but almost no one wants to pay for it.” The report adds, “‘We can’t have it all—we have to pay for what we want,’ said Ananth Prasad, who leads the transportation practice at HNTB Corp, a transportation consulting firm. ‘But if the consumers are not interested in it, you do the best with what you have and you use the tools you have.’” On tolls, Reuters notes, “Some 50 percent said motorists should pay tolls and user fees, but nearly as many, at 41 percent, did not want that kind of charge, either.”
Consensus Says that WV Turnpike Tolls are Here to Stay
Charleston Gazette-Mail, in an analysis of Governor Jim Justice’s inaugural address notes, “While there are small pockets of legislators adamant about removing tolls on the West Virginia Turnpike, the consensus is that tolls will stay – Justice himself referred to tolls in his address – and will be part of a new highways financing plan.”
West Virginia Parkways Authority (West Virginia Turnpike)WA Lawmakers File Bills to Trim Costs, Stall Toll Hikes on Tacoma Narrows Bridge
Kitsap Sun reports, “Bills introduced in the Legislature dealing with the Tacoma Narrows Bridge seek to trim operating costs by operating automated toll booths and delay scheduled rate increases. Rep. Michelle Caldier, R-Port Orchard, introduced legislation Friday [January 20] that would replace at least two of the staffed booths with credit card-activated arms. [Link added.] She doesn’t know yet what would be the estimated savings.” A second bill, Senate Bill 5317, would delay future toll increases by freeing up $10 million that is currently set aside each year for the “sufficient minimum balance — in case tolls can’t be collected for whatever reason.”
Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT)Indiana GOP Leaders Are Kicking the Tires on Tolling for New Construction and/or Express Lanes
WIBC reports, “Senate Republicans are flashing a yellow light on charging tolls as part of a road funding package. House Republicans’ road plan includes asking the federal government for permission to add tolls on existing roads. Senate President Pro Tem David Long says Governor [Eric] Holcomb’s already expressed uneasiness with tolls, and says he agrees. He says tolls on new construction or new express lanes might be acceptable — Speaker Brian Bosma says that’s what the House has in mind.”
Express Lanes IndianaIL Tollway Will Improve Accident-Plagued Interchange Reconstructed in 2015 at a Cost of $19 Million
Daily Herald reports that the Illinois Tollway Authority will make safety improvements at the Tri-State Tollway’s Grand Avenue interchange in the wake of several accidents and motorists’ complaints. The changes come after a $19.4 million reconstruction project was completed in 2015, the report adds.
Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (IL Tollway)MPO Approves Funding for New Toll Lanes on Texas Loop 1604
San Antonio Express-News (subscription required) reports, “Not a spade of dirt would be turned until 2020, but a regional planning authority took a significant step Monday [January 23] toward the construction of toll lanes on a 23-mile stretch of Loop 1604, voting to prioritize its funding with 11 other projects. The [Alamo Area] Metropolitan Planning Organization also released an estimate that drivers would pay about $4.10 for each one-way trip over the entire proposed stretch between Bandera Road and Interstate 35.” [Link added.]
TexasTolling Could Deliver Nova Scotia Highway Improvements "Decades Earlier"
GlobalNews.ca reports, “Adding tolls to Nova Scotia’s highways will allow the [twinning of the] 100-series highways across the province ‘decades earlier’ than if ‘conventional approaches’ were used, the government says.” The article examines construction cost estimates and toll rate projections contained in a recent feasibility study report.
CBC News also reports on the tolling projections.
The News reports that a local first-responder official is rallying support for tolling to advance the delivery of highway safety improvements.
Canada Nova ScotiaFitch Rates OTA Revenue Bonds
Fitch Ratings has assigned and affirmed ratings with respect to several hundred million dollars of Oklahoma Turnpike Authority second senior revenue bonds.
Investment Ratings Oklahoma Turnpike Authority (OTA)BATA and LA Metro Issues Are Scheduled for Pricing This Week
The New York Times reports that tax-exempt fixed-income issues scheduled for pricing this week include the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s $455.7 million of revenue bonds, and the Bay Area Toll Authority’s $450 million of San Francisco Bay Area Toll Bridge revenue and subordinate bonds.
Bay Area Toll Authority (San Francisco) (BATA) Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) San Francisco Bay Area (CA)