- GA Senate Passes Bill Allowing SRTA to "Collect Tolls in Perpetuity," Furthering Agency's Dynamic Pricing Strategy
- NJ Turnpike Commits Another $3 Million to Repairing Delaware River Bridge
- Flooding Costs Mount on CA State Route 37
- VA Governor McAuliffe Approves $500 Million I-395 Express Lanes Deal
- Former NJ Turnpike Chair Loveys Dies
- Kansas Turnpike Enters Year Two of Arkansas River Bridges Project
- Oklahoma Turnpike's 12 Percent Toll Hike Takes Effect Today
- Ohio Turnpike Awards $4.2 Million Repaving Contract
- IL Tollway's Tri-State Tollway Widening Project Draws Opposition
- Trump Pushes Big Infrastructure Plan, but Administration and Congressional Leaders Talk Small Ball, P3s and Toll Roads
- Construction Begins on Transit Terminal Resulting from Unique MDX, FDOT and County Partnership
- Hartford Courant Editors Say "It's Past Time For Highway Tolls"
- Newspaper Urges Oregon DOT to Build Public Support for Tolling
- If Only . . . Interstate 5 Bridge Debate Rekindles Memories of a 1950s Washington State Tolling Plan
- Port Mann Bridge Won't Turn a Profit Until 2025
- Major Players Line Up to Bid for Contract to Run Germany's "Lucrative Truck Road-Toll Company"
- Fitch on C-470 Express Lanes Project Bonds
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GA Senate Passes Bill Allowing SRTA to "Collect Tolls in Perpetuity," Furthering Agency's Dynamic Pricing Strategy
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports, “State transportation officials are seeking the General Assembly’s blessing for their plan to use tolls as a permanent tool to regulate traffic on Georgia’s congested highways. On [February 28], the Senate approved Senate Bill 183 [link added] by a vote of 50-1. The bill grants the State Road and Tollway Authority the power to collect tolls on road projects in perpetuity, rather than letting the tolls expire once road construction projects are paid for.”
State Road and Tollway Authority (Georgia)NJ Turnpike Commits Another $3 Million to Repairing Delaware River Bridge
NJ.com reports, “New Jersey Turnpike commissioners approved spending another $3 million to repair the Delaware River bridge between the New Jersey and Pennsylvania Turnpikes, which has been closed since a crack was discovered in a beam in January. Commissioners approved a $3 million addition to the contract with Cornell & Company of Woodbury [NJ] for reinforcing key structural members of the bridge truss and closing a two-inch gap between beams on the bridge. That brings the total to $12 million to repair the bridge, jack it back into position and test the condition of other beams.”
New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA) Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC)Flooding Costs Mount on CA State Route 37
Sonoma Index-Tribune columnist Jason Walsh has updates on the work of the four-county State Route 37 Policy Committee, which is exploring a solution to the Highway 37 flooding problem. He notes that a “four-mile leg of the highway was finally reopened [on February 23] after an $8 million emergency repair job in which 1,400-feet of asphalt was raised between 1 and 2 feet to keep it out of the drink – at least for now.” One solution officials have under consideration is a $4.3 billion elevated, four-lane causeway that would likely be a toll facility.
California Caltrans (CA Department of Transportation) San Francisco Bay Area (CA)VA Governor McAuliffe Approves $500 Million I-395 Express Lanes Deal
InsideNoVa.com reports, “Gov. Terry McAuliffe has approved an agreement for the $500 million design and construction of I-395 Express Lanes that will extend existing toll lanes to the border with Washington, D.C.”
In a February 28 news release, McAuliffe says, “This acceptance is the latest step in our ongoing effort to move more people and provide more travel choices in one of the most congested corridors of the country. The agreement we have reached with Transurban clearly meets the Commonwealth’s requirements and will give Virginia travelers and taxpayers the value they deserve for a project of this scope.”
Express Lanes Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) Washington (DC) Metro RegionFormer NJ Turnpike Chair Loveys Dies
Florham Park Eagle reports the death of Ralph Loveys, a former legislator and local government official who chaired the New Jersey Turnpike Authority for a year in 1980s.
New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA)Kansas Turnpike Enters Year Two of Arkansas River Bridges Project
KSN reports, “The second year of a two-year project to widen and re-deck the Arkansas River bridges . . . is set to begin.” KTA notes in a news release that, “The project includes removal of current decking, sub-structure work to widen the bridges and then re-decking the new bridges.”
Kansas Turnpike Authority (KTA)Oklahoma Turnpike's 12 Percent Toll Hike Takes Effect Today
NewsOn6.com reminds readers that OTA’s 12 percent toll hike takes effect today, March 1. Authority spokesman Jack Damrill tells the station the toll rate increase “will range from a quarter to $0.50 depending on what route you take.”
Oklahoma Turnpike Authority (OTA) Toll Rate ChangesOhio Turnpike Awards $4.2 Million Repaving Contract
The Blade reports, “A five-mile section of the Ohio Turnpike in Wood County will be repaved starting in early April. . . . The Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission on [February 27] awarded a $4,217,155 contract to the Shelly Company of Thornville, Ohio, for repaving the right and center lanes in both directions between turnpike mileposts 69.30 and 74.15.”
Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure CommissionIL Tollway's Tri-State Tollway Widening Project Draws Opposition
The Doings (via Chicago Tribune) reports, “A community information meeting [on February 27], attended by about 200 people, was only the first step for Hinsdale in opposing a developing plan to widen Interstate 294. [Link deleted.] While the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority hasn’t yet finalized plans, it has been working for more than two years on a master plan to reconstruct I-294 [link added], also known as the Tri-State Tollway, from Balmoral Avenue on the north to 95th Street on the south.” The village president tells the newspaper “there are plans to form a citizens committee and for the village to have its own traffic survey completed.”
Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (IL Tollway)Trump Pushes Big Infrastructure Plan, but Administration and Congressional Leaders Talk Small Ball, P3s and Toll Roads
Tribune News Service reports, “President Donald Trump said again Monday [February 27] that he was preparing to spend big on infrastructure. But even as he spoke, administration officials and congressional leaders were telling governors to expect little new federal investment in roads, bridges, transit systems, dam repairs and other water works. Instead, the administration and congressional leaders plan to take a more incremental approach of spurring public-private partnerships — such as toll roads — by loosening environmental reviews, removing other red tape and possibly approving new tax credits.”
P3 & PrivatizationConstruction Begins on Transit Terminal Resulting from Unique MDX, FDOT and County Partnership
Miami’s Community Newspapers reports that construction has started on the Dolphin Station Park and Ride Transit Terminal Facility, “a result of a unique partnership between MDX, Miami-Dade County, and the Florida Department of Transportation.” The station will support, among other things, Miami-Dade County’s SR 836/Dolphin Expressway Express Bus Service.
Florida Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) Miami-Dade Expressway Authority (MDX)Hartford Courant Editors Say "It's Past Time For Highway Tolls"
Hartford Courant’s editorial board endorses a reintroduction of highway tolling in Connecticut, writing, “[T]he state cannot afford to wait for money to fall from the sky. Its financial problems are dire, and tolls will go a long way toward solving them while keeping motorists safe.”
ConnecticutNewspaper Urges Oregon DOT to Build Public Support for Tolling
The Herald and News editorial board suggests that ODOT work at building public support for highway tolling if it decides to embrace that funding option. “Toll roads, if approved, are likely still years off, and, we suspect, wouldn’t be readily accepted by Oregonians no matter how much it was pointed out that improvements are needed, and the impact a deteriorated road system has on the Oregon economy through such things as load limits and insurance costs.”
OregonIf Only . . . Interstate 5 Bridge Debate Rekindles Memories of a 1950s Washington State Tolling Plan
The Columbian posts a column by Don Brunell, retired president of the Association of Washington Business, who writes, “Now, lawmakers in Olympia are scrambling to find the billions needed for the new Interstate 5 Bridge connecting Vancouver and Portland. Predictably, tolling needs to be included in the funding scheme, but it is still a political hot button.” Brunell recalls a tolling plan advanced by Governor Albert Rosellini in the 1950s and suggests, “If only Washington voters had followed [Rosellini’s] tolling plan to build, maintain and replace our state’s major bridges, we would have replacement funds today.”
Washington StatePort Mann Bridge Won't Turn a Profit Until 2025
The Province reports, “The money-losing Port Mann Bridge won’t start turning a profit until 2025 — eight years behind its original schedule, according to newly released government figures. Financial forecasts for the bridge, provided to Postmedia News, show it is projected to continue suffering tens of millions in annual losses until 2025-26, when it hits a break-even point. After that, the forecast calls for the bridge to start aggressively repaying both its original construction costs, as well as 13 years of accumulated annual losses, before fully retiring the debt by 2050.”
British Columbia CanadaMajor Players Line Up to Bid for Contract to Run Germany's "Lucrative Truck Road-Toll Company"
Handelsblatt reports, “Germany’s Federal Minister of Transport . . . is offering for sale shares in Toll Collect, a relatively unknown and small company with a big perspective. The company . . . is responsible for collecting the government’s toll on trucks. . . . It contributed €4.6 billion [US $4.87 billion] to the state coffers in 2016, which generated profits of €116 million [US$122.7 million] for Toll Collect.” The company’s current operating agreement expires in August 2018, and the next term’s “highly confidential and secretive award procedure” is already underway. The newspaper adds that in addition to the members of the current operating consortium (Deutsche Telekom, Daimler and Cofiroute), participants include IBM, Abertis, Autostrade, Skytoll, the Continental tire company and AGES. IBM, Abertis and Continental are said to be making a joint offer.
GermanyFitch on C-470 Express Lanes Project Bonds
Fitch Ratings announced it has “assigned a ‘BBB(EXP)’ rating to approximately $178 million of senior revenue bonds to be issued by the Colorado High Performance Transportation Enterprise . . . for the C-470 Express Lanes Project . . . , and an approximately $108 million subordinated loan granted under the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) to HPTE. The Rating Outlook for both the bonds and TIFIA loan is Stable.”
Colorado Colorado Department of Transportation Investment Ratings