Daily News Briefs, May 31, 2017

Sticker Shock Awaits ITR Motorists as Toll Hike Hits Tomorrow

WNDU reports on the Indiana Toll Road rate hike that takes effect tomorrow, June 1. “It’s going to be sticker shock when it happens, no doubt about it,” State Senator David Niezgodski (D-South Bend) tells the station. The expiration of a subsidy program that the state funded with ITR privatization revenue means there will be “a 126 percent rate hike for passenger cars and motorcycles that pay tolls electronically and travel all the way from one end of the toll road to the other.”

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Caltrans Considering "Massive" Project to Convert HOV Lanes to Express Toll Lane in Santa Clara County

NBC News Bay Area reports, “Caltrans is considering a massive construction project that would turn HOV lanes along the Peninsula into an express toll lane. . . . If the plan is approved, the express toll lane would stretch from Highway 101 in Santa Clara County to the Interstate 380 interchange. The lane would be free for carpools, but solo drivers could pay a toll for a faster ride.”

Palo Alto Online reports that Caltrans and local transportation agencies will hold May 31 and June 5 public meetings on the proposal.

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Massachusetts Budget Proposal Includes Mandate for Study of New Turnpike Exit

WWLP reports that an amendment to the Massachusetts 2018 state budget passed last week by the state senate requires MassDOT to “study the feasibility of adding a turnpike exit between Exit 2 and Exit 3 on the Massachusetts Turnpike.” The budget now heads to a conference committee of House and Senate members for consideration.

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Bloomberg Columnist on Assets with Potential for Privatization under Trump Infrastructure Scheme

Bloomberg Gadfly columnist Gillian Chan observes that the success of the Trump infrastructure plan depends heavily on its achieving privatization goals, and she identifies some assets, including the Illinois Tollway and the Pennsylvania Turnpike, that might interest private investors.

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Wisconsin Governor Walker Is Now Open to Tolling . . . with a Caveat (a Large Caveat)

Wisconsin State Journal reports, “Gov. Scott Walker on Tuesday [May 30] signaled he’s open to charging tolls on Wisconsin’s U.S. interstates, but with a key condition: it would need to be linked to a reduction in the state’s 30.9-cent-per-gallon gas tax.”

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Walker Warns of Project Delays in Battle with Wisconsin Lawmakers over Budget, Transportation Funding

The Capital Times reports, “Gov. Scott Walker warned lawmakers on Tuesday [May 30] against separating the state’s transportation budget from his overall 2017-19 spending plan, arguing the ensuing delay would lead to a 45 percent reduction in funds for major road projects like the expansion of U.S. Interstate 39-90 in Dane and Rock counties.”

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NY State Police Charge Man with Theft of Tollway Revenue and Falsifying Records

Hudson Valley News Network reports that New York State Police arrested a 61-year-old Rockland County man on charges of larceny and falsifying business records in connection with the alleged theft of toll revenue from the New York Thruway.

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OTA Earns Praise for Providing $5 Million for 2018 Highway Patrol Academy

The Oklahoman reports, “The [Oklahoma] Turnpike Authority announced it would pay $5 million to cover the costs of a highway patrol academy in 2018. This money will cover the amount needed to train and equip about 30 cadets and pay for their salaries and benefits for their first year as troopers. Michael Thompson, the state’s public safety commissioner, said the offer from the OTA was ‘truly monumental.’ The description is apt, because the patrol can use the help.”

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KTA Awards $7 Million in Contracts for Bridge and Overlay Work

KVOE reports, “The Kansas Turnpike Authority has announced a pair of bids and contracts that have been awarded on two upcoming construction projects.” KTA awarded an Engineer-Procure-Construct (EPC) contract worth $6.6 million to Burns & McDonnell of Kansas City, MO, to raise the vertical clearance of 11 bridges, continuing a KTA initiative to accommodate larger freight trucks. Hamm, Inc., of Perry, KS, received a second, $400,000 contract for an asphalt overlay project.

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DRJTBC Readies I-78 Project for June Start

NJ 101.5 reports that a segment of I-78, “[o]ne of the busiest truck crossings in the United States, and the most traveled roadway segment maintained by the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission, . . . will receive improvements at eight approach structures, along with cleaning, painting and re-striping” over the summer.

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Toll Road Backers Endure a Rough Legislative Session in Texas

Austin American-Statesman transportation reporter Ben Wear highlights transportation law and policy developments during the 85th session of the Texas Legislature, noting, “It was a rough session for advocates of pay-to-drive roads and a seminal one for a group of lawmakers who have been pushing back against the practice for the past couple of sessions.”

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MTA's Handling of Bridge AET Conversions Riles Some Bronx Residents

Bronx Times reports on the complaints of local officials and residents who say that MTA’s project to install cashless toll systems on the Throgs Neck, Whitestone and RFK bridges “has caused major traffic delays and other inconveniences for Bronx residents. . . .”

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Walsh Group Establishes New Investment Firm

Crain’s Chicago Business reports, “The four-generation-old Walsh Group, Chicago’s largest general contractor, set up a sister firm to invest family wealth in real estate, mostly residential and office projects.” The report adds that the company is “noted for bridge work and laying lots of concrete, having built or rebuilt every local expressway or tollway (except the Edens) and runways at O’Hare and Midway.”

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Group Claims I-70 Tolls "Might Bankrupt" Some Missouri Towns

OzarksFirst.com reports, “A group wants to ban efforts — once and for all — that would allow toll roads in Missouri,” and it is gathering petition signatures to obtain a voter referendum for that purpose. Mark Stephens, with A Better Road Forward, tells the site, “We double-tax farmers and our small businesses too much. The initial toll road was to be between . . . Wentzville and Blue Springs. With no one else having it, that’s not right. That would put a big burden on the small towns and cities along the I-70 corridor. It might bankrupt some of them.”

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$3.5 Billion Massey Tunnel Replacement Contract Is on Hold Pending Possible BC Government Transition

Richmond News reports that two British Columbia political parties expect to form a new, minority government in June, and until that happens, “no major construction contracts for the George Massey Tunnel replacement project will be signed. According to the Ministry of Transportation the process to award the major construction contract, valued at close to $3.5 billion [US$2.6 billion], is still underway, and it expects to have its preferred contractor by this summer, should the government choose to proceed. But the Ministry . . . will not sign any contract without the express consent of the government. . . .”

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Five Teams Bid for Chilean Highway Concession Project

Reuters reports, “The Chilean government has received five offers for a major highway concession in capital Santiago, the ministry of public works said on [May 30], as the South American country seeks to revamp its infrastructure network.” Bidding teams include, “Vespucio Oriente Express consortium made up by Concesiones Infraestructura Chile Dos and Italy’s Salini Impregilo; the Consorcio Vespucio Oriente made up by Spain’s Sacyr and OHL Concesiones; Spain’s Cintra; Grupo Costanera made up by Italy’s Atlantia and Canada’s CPP Investment Board; and the China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC),” according to the report.

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