Daily News Briefs, February 27, 2017

Oregon to Seek Spot in FHWA Tolling Pilot Program

The Oregonian reports, “The Oregon Department of Transportation plans to apply for one of three spots in a federal program allowing states to put tolls on their interstates. . . . If the application is submitted and approved, tolls may eventually be used to finance congestion-relieving upgrades to I-5 through the Rose Quarter or a widening of the Abernethy Bridge, which carries I-205 over the Willamette River in Oregon City.” The report adds that Missouri, North Carolina and Virginia (the states originally selected for the ISRRPP pilot tolling program) have not met the program deadlines, and ODOT officials learned that North Carolina and Virginia have withdrawn from the program.

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"Scary" Fact: Central Texas Opens Yet Another Toll Road - the $140 Million Texas 71 Tollway

Austin American-Statesman reports, “Starting sometime Tuesday [February 28], probably just before the evening rush hour, highway crews will remove some cones and other barriers and open the 3-mile-long Texas 71 tollway.” The report adds, “So, we have eight Central Texas tollways, and more on the way. Specifically, three under construction and four in the planning stages (including toll lanes on Interstate 35), for a total of 15 around here sometime in the next decade. That would be more than 200 miles of toll roads, up from zero in greater Austin just before Halloween 2006. Scary.”

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TxDOT Accelerates I-45 Project and Likely Reopens the "Tolling Debate"

Houston Chronicle (subscription required) reports that a plan once considered “preposterous” to address the “infuriating bottleneck” on Interstate 45 through downtown Houston is now getting off the ground. Estimated to cost a billion dollars or so, the plan calls for, among other things, moving the I-45. The newspaper notes that aspects of the “ambitious freeway project,” such as express lanes, could reignite public frustration over TxDOT’s reliance on toll roads.

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VDOT's Toll Relief Program for Norfolk and Portsmouth Residents Is a Hit

Inside Business (via The Virginian Pilot) reports, “More than 2,000 Norfolk and Portsmouth residents will receive 75-cent-per-trip refunds for trips through the Downtown and Midtown tunnels, Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s office said Friday [February 24]. Elizabeth River Crossings, which operates the Elizabeth River tunnels, has agreed to pay the state $500,000 a year for 10 years to fund the toll relief [p]rogram, which is the first program of its kind in the nation, according to the governor’s office.”

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A Decade or So after First Being Proposed, AET Has Finally Arrived in NYC

SILive.com reports, “While cashless tolling is a new reality for Staten Island motorists, the idea was first floated for the borough more than a decade ago.” The report adds, “The Bayonne Bridge became the Port Authority’s first cashless tolling facility on Monday [February 20], and the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge expects to go cashless by this summer. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced last year that cashless tolling will be completed on all MTA-operated bridges and tunnels in the New York metropolitan region by the end of 2017.”

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Kapsch Gets $8.8 Million PANYNJ Contract to Provide Agency-Wide Transportation Management Software

Kapsch TrafficCom announced this morning that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has awarded it a four-year, $8.8 million contract to design, build and support an Agency-Wide Transportation Management Software (ATMS) system. “The contract consists of a four-year base term followed by two additional one-year optional support periods. Powered by Kapsch’s DYNAC® software, the new system will enable the Authority to manage ITS assets at its bridges, tunnels, aviation and port facilities, and the PATH rail transit system from any of its individual facility Operations Control Centers and the PA-AOC.”

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Cuomo Promises AET for NY Thruway, but Won't Support Toll Hike to Pay the $500 Million Cost

Democrat and Chronicle reports, “Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York’s top transportation officials agree: The days of classic highway toll booths are numbered. Cuomo and the state Thruway Authority have signaled they plan to move ahead with a cashless form of tolling for the entire 570-mile superhighway system. . . .” The report looks at the $500 million price tag and notes that the thruway’s capital plan does not include funding for the cashless initiative. Gov. Cuomo is opposed to raising tolls to pay for the new system.

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Cuomo Fast-Tracks NY Transit, Economic Hub Project that Includes a Thruway Interchange's AET Conversion

Hudson Valley News Network  reports, “The $150 million reconstruction of the Woodbury Transit and Economic hub will be completed five years ahead of schedule, announced Governor Andrew M. Cuomo on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2017. . . . This moves up expected completion of the design-build project from 2024 to 2019.” The project scope includes a New York State Thruway ramp reconfiguration, installation of “an intelligent transportation system that adapts to changing traffic conditions,” and conversion of a thruway interchange to cashless tolling. Click here to see the Request for Qualifications NYDOT has issued for the project.

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One of Virginia's "Most Expensive Toll Roads" Raises Tolls

WWBT reports, “One of the most expensive toll roads in Virginia is about to cost even more to use. The Pocahontas Parkway, which currently costs $4 at the Main Plaza and $2.25 at the Laburnum and Airport Drive ramps, will go up to $4.15 and $2.35 respectively on March 13.” Click here to see the toll rate schedule.

Richmond Times-Dispatch notes that a “major resurfacing of the parkway” is scheduled for this year.

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CT Lawmakers Convene Hearing on Tolling Bills as Proponents Make Their Case

Associated Press reports, “State lawmakers are revisiting whether to install electronic tolls on Connecticut highways. The General Assembly’s Transportation Committee will hold a public hearing [today, February 27, at 11 AM] on several bills that would require the tolls.”

Hartford Courant reports, “With a public hearing just days away, top proponents of highway tolls in Connecticut presented their case to lawmakers [on February 24]. They keyed in on state budget office projections that without new money, the Special Transportation Fund will spiral into deficits in just a few years. And they circulated a new notice from federal officials that appears to weaken a major argument against tolling state highways.” In the notice, the Federal Highway Administration informed Connecticut DOT “that Connecticut could install tolls without repaying previous federal aid – or losing future grants – under the right circumstances. Border tolls wouldn’t be acceptable, but a system aimed at reducing traffic congestion would be, it said.”

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Illinois Congressional Delegation Sides with Tollway in Battle with Canadian Pacific Railway

Crain’s Chicago Business reports, “Illinois’ congressional delegation is joining in efforts to get the federal government to side with the Illinois Tollway in a dispute that threatens long-planned western access to O’Hare International Airport. In a letter released [on February 24], the delegation urges the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to require the Canadian Pacific Railway to make portions of its property on O’Hare’s western edge available for the proposed Elgin-O’Hare Expressway.”

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MTC's Heminger: Bay Area's Future Does Not Include Many New Roads

KTVU looks at the future of the Bay Area’s transportation system and concludes the region “may get some additional lanes on existing highways and extensions of existing rail systems, but lots of new roads are not in the picture. ‘We’re spending 90% of all the money that we think we’ll have available over the next two decades just to take care of the system we’ve got,’ said Steve Heminger, Executive Director of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.”

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Traffic Picks Up on Orchard Pond Parkway, Florida's First Private Toll Road

Tallahassee Democrat reports, “An increasing number of commuters are using Orchard Pond Parkway since it debuted in mid-April. The 5.2-mile east-west parkway connects Meridian and Old Bainbridge roads and represents the state’s first [private] toll road.”

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CA Governor Brown and Lawmakers Focus on Funding Bills

The Sacramento Bee reports, “The way California raises money to maintain and repair state highways and local roads has largely been the same for more than two decades. Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic legislative leaders want to change that, and Californians would pay more as a result.” The report adds that pending bills “include a mix of higher taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel, raising vehicle registration fees by $38, imposing a new charge on zero-emission vehicles, and other revenue.” (Tolling is not cited in the report.)

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Man Charged with Threating PA Turnpike Toll Collector Faces Jail Time

Montgomery News reports, “A Montgomery County man who unleashed a racially-tinged tirade at a Pennsylvania Turnpike toll-booth worker faces the possibility of jail time, after having tested positive for using marijuana prior to a recent court appearance.”

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Fitch "Views Positively" MOU between Indiana Finance Authority and I-69 Development Partners

Fitch Ratings announced that it “views positively the Memorandum of Understanding . . . signed on Feb. 13, 2017 by the Indiana Finance Authority . . .  and I-69 Development Partners [link added] . . . , as it appears to address key issues and unresolved disputes in conjunction with construction delays on the I-69 development project.” Fitch said that following further assessment, it anticipates “taking the appropriate rating action on the IFA private activity bonds,” which are currently rated ‘B’/Rating Watch Negative.

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