- Maryland Unveils Key Bridge Replacement Design
- "Fast Company" And Broadway Report On Congestion Pricing's Positive Impacts
- New DelDOT Leadership Team Takes Office
- These are just some of the toll industry developments TRN is following.
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Maryland Unveils Key Bridge Replacement Design
Maryland Matters reports, “State officials unveiled the design for the new Francis Scott Key Bridge on Monday, almost a year after a container ship slammed into the old bridge, sending it tumbling into the Patapsco River and killing six workers . . . . ‘This is a great day for Maryland,’ said Gov. Wes Moore (D), as the design was revealed. “But it’s not lost on me that today’s triumph was born out of tragedy.’”
Renderings show the span will be a “soaring cable-stayed” structure. It will have two traffic lanes in each direction and provide 230 feet of clearance over the ship channel, compared to the old bridge’s 185 feet of vertical clearance. “When it is completed — the contractor predicts the bridge could open in fall 2028 — the bridge will restore a major roadway between Dundalk and Baltimore.”
Officials said the replacement project’s next step will be demolition of the collapsed span’s remains. “Demolition is expected in the spring and construction will begin shortly after. Preconstruction operations have already begun, such as collecting soil samples and mapping subsurface waterways, the Maryland Transportation Authority said in January.
Governor Moore concurrently announced a $15 million investment in a project to increase container capacity at a major Baltimore Harbor logistics center.
A subpage on the Key Bridge Rebuild website has design images and information. Governor Moore issued an extensive news release on the design reveal.
The Washington Post and WBAL-TV also cover this story.
Francis Scott Key Toll Bridge Collapse and Replacement Maryland Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA)"Fast Company" And Broadway Report On Congestion Pricing's Positive Impacts
“Fast Company” is the latest national publication to take note of the positive outcome from the first month of Manhattan congestion pricing. Acknowledging it’s early days, an article on the magazine’s website reports that current MTA data, supported by independent measures, reveals positive trends in traffic reduction, travel times, and transit adoption. (Initial information about toll revenue yield and air quality should be available later this month.) The article focuses on the program’s immediate impact on improving commutes by car and bus into and within the congestion zone.
Concerns that congestion pricing would seriously curtail New York City theatre attendance have so far proved to be unfounded, Streetsblog NYC reports. “Despite doom prognostications, congestion pricing has not hurt Broadway’s bottom line a bit — and, in fact, may be boosting it. According to the Broadway League — the Great White Way’s trade group — ticket sales rose year-over-year in both the third and fourth weeks of January,” the period following the usual holiday surge in attendance.
MTA policy and external relations chief John McCarthy commented, “Most [theatergoers] take subways, buses, bikes, cabs or walk to Broadway shows. The relatively few who drive are seeing much less traffic. So, no surprise that attendance and ticket sales are way up.”
Congestion Pricing Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) New York New York City Transit and Toll RoadsNew DelDOT Leadership Team Takes Office
On January 30, Shanté Hastings was sworn-in as the department’s twelfth secretary following her unanimous confirmation by the state senate. DelDOT’s announcement of the official start of her term added that Ms. Hastings has appointed Lanie Clymer the deputy transportation secretary and Mark Luszcz as DelDOT’s chief engineer.
The new secretary was nominated in December shortly before taking over as acting secretary upon the departure of Nicole Majeski. She has been a DelDOT staff member and executive for more than 20 years, according to detailed biographical information in the announcement.
Ms. Clymer has extensive public and private financial management experience. She joined DelDOT in 2007 and was serving as the department’s finance director before her elevation.
Mr. Luszcz has nearly 30 years’ experience in public and private sector transportation engineering. He previously served as a deputy director in DelDOT’s Division of Transportation Solutions, at various times having responsibility for a wide-range of operations or for design. He was the department’s chief traffic engineer at an earlier stage of his career.
Appointments-Promotions-Retirements Delaware Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) Women in TransportationThese are just some of the toll industry developments TRN is following.
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