- WV Lawmaker Claims Toll Bills Are Going Nowhere
- Mon-Fayette Expressway Project Put in Limbo by Planning Agency's Inaction
- PA Turnpike's Improved Winter Storm Response Passes a Test
- New Hampshire AET Bill Is Up for House Committee Review Tomorrow
- 91 Express Lanes Open on Schedule
- Illinois Tollway's 2016 Annual Report Has a New Look
- New York Senate Passes Bill Authorizing Registration Suspensions for Toll Violations
- VDOT Hosts Public Meetings to Show Plans for Its 95 Express Lanes Extension
- Tolling Finds Few Friends in Danbury, CT, Where It's Seen as a Threat to the Economy
- Recreational Path, Part of New Garden State Parkway Bridge, Has Potential to Be a Significant Community Asset
- PA Turnpike Upgrades AET Facilities at Suburban Philadelphia Interchange
- Locals Press VDOT for Relief from Coleman Bridge Tolls
- Trump's First Budget May Stall the Massive Gateway Program
- Seven-Car Florida Turnpike Crash Results in Two Deaths, Numerous Injuries
- Fitch Rates Laredo, TX, Toll System Bonds 'A+'
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WV Lawmaker Claims Toll Bills Are Going Nowhere
The Register-Herald talks with State Delegate Marty Gearheart (R-Mercer), who “doesn’t see any movement on any legislation aimed at turnpike tolls this session,” and that includes Governor Jim Justice’s request for a turnpike toll increase. Gearheart favors letting the state’s toll authorization statute lapse. “As far as extending the tolls, there is not a bill that has had any movement to do that. I frankly see them ending in 2019. It takes action (by the legislature) to go the other way.”
West Virginia West Virginia Parkways Authority (West Virginia Turnpike)Mon-Fayette Expressway Project Put in Limbo by Planning Agency's Inaction
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that a regional planning agency decided on March 20 to table a vote on the future of the $1.6 billion Mon-Fayette Expressway toll project “while local leaders try to determine whether the money can be used for other projects.” The article adds that the agency’s final action on the project (which the Pennsylvania Turnpike would manage) may be postponed for several months.
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC)PA Turnpike's Improved Winter Storm Response Passes a Test
Reading Eagle reports, “A year after a blizzard left hundreds of motorists stuck on the Pennsylvania Turnpike for up to 24 hours, the toll road didn’t see a sequel in last week’s nor’easter. Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission officials said they were pleased with their response to the snowstorm last week.” The article adds, “[T]urnpike officials acknowledged they have improved their preparation and response to storms over the last year. The January 2016 blizzard led to a legislative hearing and a task force report outlining recommendations for better responses.”
Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC)New Hampshire AET Bill Is Up for House Committee Review Tomorrow
Seacoastonline.com looks at the impact of the New Hampshire bill that provides for conversion of three Spaulding Turnpike interchanges to all-electronic, open-road tolling. “According to New Hampshire Department of Transportation Deputy Commissioner Chris Waszczuk, passage of the bill would give the DOT leeway to determine if automated electronic tolling (AET) will work for future projects, too.” Waszczuk adds that NHDOT will be expanding toll collection and enforcement agreements with Massachusetts and Maine “in order to maintain compliance” by motorists without E-ZPass accounts. The bill’s primary sponsor tells the website toll collector’s displaced by the conversion will be able to fill vacancies at interchanges where cash tolling will continue.
AET (All-Electronic Tolling) New Hampshire New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT)91 Express Lanes Open on Schedule
The Press-Enterprise reports that the new 91 Express Lanes opened as scheduled yesterday morning, March 20. The $1.4 billion project added two toll lanes and one general purpose lane in each direction on an 8-mile segment of the freeway “in the hopes of easing congestion along the heavily traveled corridor.”
California Express Lanes Riverside County (CA) Transportation Commission (RCTC)Illinois Tollway's 2016 Annual Report Has a New Look
“Providing Value & Investment Across the Region,” the Illinois Tollway’s 2016 annual report, is online in a new, dynamic format. “In 2016,” the tollway states in a news release, it “delivered numerous benefits to a wide range of stakeholders through our investments in transportation infrastructure. These investments support the regional transportation network and keep our 1.6 million daily drivers moving safely and efficiently. . . .”
Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (IL Tollway)New York Senate Passes Bill Authorizing Registration Suspensions for Toll Violations
MidHudsonNews.com reports, “Legislation that would mandate suspension or deny vehicle registrations for persistent toll evaders passed in the State Senate on Monday [March 20]. . . . With full implementation, New York would gain back millions per year in unpaid violations, most of which occur on the Tappan Zee Bridge toll in Nyack, said [Senator David Carlucci (D-Nanuet), the bill’s sponsor.]”
Governor Mario Cuomo Bridge (Tappan Zee Replacement Bridge) New York ScofflawsVDOT Hosts Public Meetings to Show Plans for Its 95 Express Lanes Extension
WTOP has an in-depth report on “FredEx,” VDOT’s emerging plan to extend metro Washington’s 95 Express Lanes 10 miles south and build a new Quantico exit in collaboration with Transurban. The department has scheduled two public meetings on the project for this week. The meeting presentation and other project materials are available online.
I-95 Express (Metro Washington, DC) Transurban Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT)Tolling Finds Few Friends in Danbury, CT, Where It's Seen as a Threat to the Economy
The News-Times reports, “The prospect of tolls returning to Connecticut highways – a prospect that moved one step closer to reality last week – makes [Danbury] a battleground once again in a perennial debate.” The city’s representatives and business groups consistently oppose I-84 tolls, primarily because they have the potential to discourage out-of-state shoppers from traveling to Danbury, home of the largest mall in New England.
ConnecticutRecreational Path, Part of New Garden State Parkway Bridge, Has Potential to Be a Significant Community Asset
Press of Atlantic City editors write that the ten-foot wide multipurpose recreational path that is included in the rebuild of the Garden State Parkway bridge over Great Egg Harbor has the potential to become “a new stellar area attraction — if the connections [to similar paths] and support facilities [for users] are done right.”
New Jersey New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA)PA Turnpike Upgrades AET Facilities at Suburban Philadelphia Interchange
WPVI reports that the Pennsylvania Turnpike has started a three-week-long process of installing upgraded electronic tolling equipment on the gantries over the E-ZPass express lanes at its Mid-County interchange. Motorists can continue to use E-ZPass in the location’s tollbooth lanes. Concrete surface repairs will take place in subsequent phases of the project.
AET (All-Electronic Tolling) Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC)Locals Press VDOT for Relief from Coleman Bridge Tolls
WVEC reports, “It’s a burden that’s getting heavier and heavier for Gloucester [County, Virginia] residents, paying the toll at the Coleman Bridge.” County supervisors are meeting with VDOT officials, including Secretary Aubrey Layne, to discuss some possible means of reducing the tolls local residents pay to use the bridge.
Virginia Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT)Trump's First Budget May Stall the Massive Gateway Program
NJ Spotlight (via NewsWorks) reports, “Work on a key bridge that’s part of the ambitious Gateway plan to build two new rail tunnels under the Hudson River is supposed to begin this year. But whether that will happen seems up in the air” based on the Trump administration budget outline released last week, which. according to the article, indicates the president’s intent to freeze federal grants for projects (like Gateway) that are not completely funded. The news website calls this “an apparent reversal by the Republican president on the issue of infrastructure.”
New Jersey New York City Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) US Department of Transportation (USDOT)Seven-Car Florida Turnpike Crash Results in Two Deaths, Numerous Injuries
Orlando Sentinel reports on a seven-vehicle accident that occurred Sunday evening, March 19, on Florida’s Turnpike in Lake County near Leesburg. The crash caused two deaths and at least 12 injuries.
Florida's Turnpike Enterprise (FTE)Fitch Rates Laredo, TX, Toll System Bonds 'A+'
Fitch Ratings “has affirmed $21.7 million of City of Laredo, TX senior toll system revenue bonds and revenue refunding bonds at ‘A+’.” (Laredo has additional senior and subordinate bonds that Fitch does not rate.) Fitch’s Rating Outlook is Stable.
Investment Ratings Laredo (Texas) Texas