- NC Appeals Court Rules that NCDOT's I-77 Express Project Is Constitutional
- WSJ Looks at the I-77 Project, Reports State Is Considering Making $300 Million Payment to "Retake Control"
- Cross-River Traffic Has Declined in First Months Since the $2.3 Billion Ohio River Bridges Opened
- Details Emerge on Chicago Developer's Controversial Application to Build Freight Railway and Private Toll Road
- MassDOT Highway Administrator Tom Tinlin Hospitalized to Undergo Medical Procedure
- Federal, State and Local Elected Officials to Huddle on California's Flood-Prone Highway 37
- Work on Raising Bayonne Bridge Roadway to Accommodate Big Cargo Ships Will Wrap-Up Ahead of Schedule
- Two Wekiva Parkway Segments Set to Open This Summer
- HCTRA Works with Businesses Impacted by Tomball Tollway Construction
- Florida County Gears Up for Self-Driving and Connected Vehicles
- NJ Appeals Court Rules That Turnpike Authority Is Not Liable for Fatal Parkway Tree Fall
- Oklahoma DOT Puts Projects on Hold as Bill to Cut Agency's Funding Advances
- WA Governor Inslee Pushes Oregon to Support an I-5 Bridge Replacement Project
- Wisconsin GOP Lawmakers Mull Funding Plan That Might Include Tolling and a Lay-Off of 200 DOT Engineers
- San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge Bike, Pedestrian Path to Begin Seven-Day-a-Week Operation
- PANYNJ Police Nab Yet Another Scofflaw
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NC Appeals Court Rules that NCDOT's I-77 Express Project Is Constitutional
The Charlotte Observer reports that North Carolina’s Court of Appeals “dealt another blow to opponents of the Interstate 77 toll lanes in northern Mecklenburg County, upholding a ruling that the project is constitutional. The unanimous opinion by a three-judge panel of the state’s second-highest court was released [on May 2].” [Link inserted.]
Express Lanes Issues of Law North Carolina North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) P3 & PrivatizationWSJ Looks at the I-77 Project, Reports State Is Considering Making $300 Million Payment to "Retake Control"
The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reports, “When North Carolina brought in a private operator to add toll lanes to a 26-mile stretch of highway north of Charlotte, its goal was to reduce congestion and build a road the state couldn’t otherwise afford. The hope was that the state’s first public-private partnership for roads would be a model of efficiency and the first of many such projects. But the expansion of Interstate 77 has hit speed bumps, with travel times lengthening and accidents increasing. Now the state is considering paying up to $300 million to get out of the deal and retake control of the roadway.”
Express Lanes North Carolina North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) P3 & PrivatizationCross-River Traffic Has Declined in First Months Since the $2.3 Billion Ohio River Bridges Opened
WDRB reports, “Kentucky and Indiana spent $2.3 billion to build two new Ohio River bridges, untangle the Spaghetti Junction interchange in Louisville and strengthen the Kennedy Bridge. . . . But despite those investments, there are fewer vehicles crossing the Ohio than before construction began on the bridges, according to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. ‘We are not seeing that there is an increased number of traffic crossings across the river than there were before the project started — yet,’ said Megan McLain, the cabinet’s assistant general counsel.”
Louisville-Southern Indiana Ohio River BridgesDetails Emerge on Chicago Developer's Controversial Application to Build Freight Railway and Private Toll Road
Post-Tribune (via Chicago Tribune) reports, “After months of speculation and repeated requests from a federal agency for additional information, Great Lakes Basin Transportation [GLBT] filed its formal application for a tri-state freight train line late Monday afternoon [May 1].” The newspaper adds that several communities along the proposed rail route are opposed to GLBT using eminent domain power to take land for the right-of-way. A group spokesman called GLBT’s disclosure that it also wants to build a toll road along part of the route “a smoke screen that could face the same challenges under the new eminent domain law as the rail line.”
Chicago Metro Area Illinois IndianaMassDOT Highway Administrator Tom Tinlin Hospitalized to Undergo Medical Procedure
Boston Herald reports that Thomas Tinlin, the MassDOT highway administrator, has been hospitalized to undergo an undisclosed medical procedure. The newspaper adds that Tinlin “has been hailed recently for overseeing the state’s successful transition to all-electronic tolling last fall.”
AET (All-Electronic Tolling) Massachusetts Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) Massachusetts TurnpikeFederal, State and Local Elected Officials to Huddle on California's Flood-Prone Highway 37
Sonoma Index-Tribune reports, “Almost the entire elected delegation of national, state and county representatives will be in Sonoma next Wednesday, May 10, to look for a solution to the most difficult transportation issue facing the North Bay: State Route 37, between Novato and Vallejo.” Local newspapers are hosting the discussion forum that will examine the problems of flooding on the highway’s western segment; congestion resulting from “heavy commuter usage” and special events traffic; and the threat of “sea-level rise due to climate change.”
California Caltrans (CA Department of Transportation) San Francisco Bay Area (CA)Work on Raising Bayonne Bridge Roadway to Accommodate Big Cargo Ships Will Wrap-Up Ahead of Schedule
Associated Press reports, “Work to remove the lower roadway of the Bayonne Bridge, allowing bigger cargo ships to reach New York City-area ports, will be completed six months ahead of schedule, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said [May 2].” The bridge’s elevated roadway, which opened in February, is the first facility the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has converted to cashless tolling, AP notes.
SILive.com also reports.
AET (All-Electronic Tolling) PANYNJTwo Wekiva Parkway Segments Set to Open This Summer
WOFL reports that segments 1A and 1B of the Wekiva Parkway are on track to open this summer. “This section represents two of five projects that comprise 10 miles of the parkway, employing on average nearly 500 construction workers a day.” The parkway sections will feature all-electronic, E-PASS tolling.
Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX) Florida Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) Florida Turnpike Enterprise (FTE)HCTRA Works with Businesses Impacted by Tomball Tollway Construction
Community Impact Newspaper reports that Tomball Tollway construction is having an impact on local small businesses, but both the owners and HCTRA’s contractors are working to alleviate the drop-off in customers.
Harris County Toll Road Authority (HCTRA) TexasFlorida County Gears Up for Self-Driving and Connected Vehicles
The News-Press looks at what Lee County, Florida, transportation planners are doing to prepare for a future in which self-driving and connected vehicles dominate the roads. “Just as putting automobiles within reach of everyday consumers brought mobility to the masses,” the newspaper observes, “cars wirelessly connected to the driving environment will mean changes in the way we arrange our lives, get around in our world and perhaps even choose where to live.”
Florida Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) Self-Driving VehiclesNJ Appeals Court Rules That Turnpike Authority Is Not Liable for Fatal Parkway Tree Fall
New Jersey Law Journal (registration may be required) reports, “The estates of a man and his mother who were killed when a tree fell on their car while they were traveling on the Garden State Parkway cannot sue the highway’s operator, a state appeals court has ruled.” [Link inserted.] The report adds, “‘[P]laintiffs have not presented competent evidence showing the Turnpike Authority had actual or constructive notice of the tree’s seriously deteriorated condition,’ said Appellate Division Judge Jose Fuentes. Judges Marie Koblitz and Robert Gilson joined in the ruling.”
Issues of Law New Jersey New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA)Oklahoma DOT Puts Projects on Hold as Bill to Cut Agency's Funding Advances
Tulsa World reports, “Facing financial uncertainty, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation has put several road projects on hold, including some in Tulsa. Department of Transportation Executive Director Mike Patterson said Senate Bill 837, which passed two legislative budget panels last week, reduces his agency’s funding by $251 million.” [Link inserted.] Bobby Stem, executive director of the Association of Oklahoma General Contractors, tells the newspaper, “[T]he fact that we are going to ignore other sources of income or controversial reforms and instead lay all of this on Oklahomans’ infrastructure, I think it is pretty embarrassing, actually.”
Oklahoma Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT)WA Governor Inslee Pushes Oregon to Support an I-5 Bridge Replacement Project
The Columbian reports, “Despite a lukewarm response from across the river after Washington lawmakers approved a measure to address the chronically congested crossing over the Columbia River, Gov. Jay Inslee is hopeful Oregon will eventually get behind a replacement Interstate 5 Bridge project.” The report adds, “But Inslee cautioned nobody has the desire to repeat the past when Washington walked away from the ill-fated Columbia River Crossing project in 2013 after years of planning.”
Oregon Washington StateWisconsin GOP Lawmakers Mull Funding Plan That Might Include Tolling and a Lay-Off of 200 DOT Engineers
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports, “Wisconsin would hike taxes on gasoline and slash income taxes and borrowing for roads, under a proposal being discussed privately by top Assembly Republicans.” Seeking federal permission to toll some state highways and eliminating 200 transportation department engineering jobs may also be included in the proposal, which is still evolving, but may be disclosed as early as tomorrow, May 4. The newspaper adds that the work of displaced WisDOT employees “would likely be picked up by private-sector engineers.”
Wisconsin Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT)San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge Bike, Pedestrian Path to Begin Seven-Day-a-Week Operation
KQED reports that the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge’s Alexander Zuckermann Bicycle-Pedestrian Path will begin seven-day-week operations today with the dedication of a vista point on Yerba Buena Island.
Bay Area Toll Authority (San Francisco) (BATA) California Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) San Francisco Bay Area (CA)PANYNJ Police Nab Yet Another Scofflaw
NJ.com reports that PANYNJ police arrested a 35-year-old New Jersey woman for allegedly jumping the George Washington Bridge toll and later discovered that she has accumulated 106 E-ZPass violations and a balance of $6,800 in unpaid tolls and fees.
PANYNJ Scofflaws