- Philadelphia Inquirer: NJ Toll Entities Need to Rethink Capital Improvement and toll Hike Plans
- Connecticut Officials Revive Their Toll Dispute During a Bond Commission Meeting
- Sixty-Car Crash Ties Up IDOT Expressway in Chicago
- These are just some of the toll industry developments TRN is following.
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Philadelphia Inquirer: NJ Toll Entities Need to Rethink Capital Improvement and toll Hike Plans
The Philadelphia Inquirer editorial board declares, “Investments in existing infrastructure are necessary. But now is not the time to launch enormously expensive highway widening projects in New Jersey — or anywhere, for that matter. The pandemic’s course is unknown, and its aftermath is expected to be complicated and costly. Neither [the New Jersey Turnpike Authority nor the South Jersey Transportation Authority] should spend a dime [on their proposed capital improvement projects] without making a better case for how their plans will make sense in our profoundly changed world.” The editorial adds that a controversial public review process initiated by both agencies “should raise red flags about the transparency and accountability of governmental bodies not only in New Jersey but everywhere especially during this crisis.”
Yesterday’s joint news release by the Engineers Labor-Employer Cooperative 825 and Operating Engineers Local 825 offers a contrasting view of the proposals. “As we continue to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, we strongly urge the governor and his administration to stand fast in their plan to support upgrading New Jersey’s critical infrastructure. This includes the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway,” stated union official Greg Lalevee.
Highway-Tunnel-Bridge Safety (Includes COVID-19 Impacts) Infrastructure Investment Trends New Jersey New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA) South Jersey Transportation Authority (SJTA)Connecticut Officials Revive Their Toll Dispute During a Bond Commission Meeting
The Connceticut Mirror reports, “The unifying crisis of the coronavirus pandemic didn’t prevent the tolls debate from resurfacing” during yesterday’s meeting of Connecticut’s State Bond Commission. “Republican legislative leaders charged Gov. Ned Lamont with retaliating against toll opponents” because his administration shifted funding for rail car purchases away from a part of the state whose lawmakers opposed tolls. Lamont and state transportation commissioner Joseph Giulietti cited objective factors for the reallocation. The article notes that the board “unanimously approved more than $700 million in total financing for various transportation projects across the state” during the telephonic meeting.
Company and Agency Financial Issues And Reports Connecticut Connecticut Department of Transportation (CDOT)Sixty-Car Crash Ties Up IDOT Expressway in Chicago
NBC News reports on the Wednesday morning pile-up of about 60 vehicles that occurred on Illinois DOT’s Kennedy Expressway in Chicago. Snowy weather and poor traction appear to have caused the crash in which no one sustained major injury.
Chicago Metro Area Highway-Tunnel-Bridge Safety (Includes COVID-19 Impacts) Illinois Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT)These are just some of the toll industry developments TRN is following.
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