- IL Tollway Sues Canadian Pacific over Western Access to O'Hare Airport ($3.4 Billion Project at Stake)
- Colorado DOT's New HOV-3 Rule for US 36 and I-25 Will Impact Denver's "Commuter Numbers Game"
- Toronto Mayor Backs Tolling the Gardiner Expressway and the Don Valley Parkway
- Poll Shows Toronto Voters Split on Tolling, but City's Leading Newspaper Is All-In
- Will Vancouver Jump on the Tolling Bandwagon?
- Funding "Swap" Kickstarts New Phase of SH 288 Tollway Project
- Self-Driving Truck to Begin Traveling on Ohio Pike and US Route 33
- OTA's Gatz Makes the Case for Expansion Projects, $480 Million in New Debt
- Despite Defeat of Two Referenda, Tolling Is Still on the Table in Alabama
- CFX Toll Workers Find "Bizarre and Dangerous Things" in Toll Collection Baskets
- New County Commissioner Is No Fan of Converting Bob Sikes Bridge to AET
- Car Plunges Off Lake Pontchartrain Causeway Bridge, Killing Occupant
- Matty Moroun's Push to Compete with the Gordie Howe Bridge Project Impacts Windsor Neighborhood
- Texans Already Tired of Toll Roads May Not Like Trump's Infrastructure Plan
- Reason Foundation Plugs OCTA's I-405 Variable Toll Lanes Improvement Project
- City Officials to Invest $500,000 to Drive Up Truck Traffic at the Free Trade Bridge
This is a Subscribers-Only area. If you are a subscriber, please login. If not...
Become a Subscriber Today »
IL Tollway Sues Canadian Pacific over Western Access to O'Hare Airport ($3.4 Billion Project at Stake)
Chicago Tribune reports, “Frustrated with what it says is a Canadian railway’s refusal to negotiate, the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority has filed a lawsuit before [the US Surface Transportation Board] demanding that it be allowed to run highway ramps over train tracks just west of O’Hare International Airport. Describing the filing as a measure of last resort, tollway authority chair Robert Schillerstrom added, “The Canadian Pacific worked with us for a long period of time and then completely changed their position. They put the entire project in jeopardy by changing their minds.” [Link added.]
Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (IL Tollway)Colorado DOT's New HOV-3 Rule for US 36 and I-25 Will Impact Denver's "Commuter Numbers Game"
The Denver Post reports, “In a move that could shift the dynamics of carpools across the Denver metro area, the popular High Occupancy Vehicle rules that let two occupants ride free on Express Lanes through often-congested segments of U.S. 36 and Interstate 25 will require at least one more rider to claim the privilege. The change has a name: HOV 3.” The report adds, “The state hopes the new rule will encourage commuters to take steps to ensure the quickest and least expensive travel, which could mean taking a bus, such as the Flatiron Flyer on U.S. 36, that has access to the express lanes; paying the premium to use the Express Lanes; or finding another rider or two to comply with the free HOV conditions.”
Colorado Department of Transportation Express LanesToronto Mayor Backs Tolling the Gardiner Expressway and the Don Valley Parkway
The Globe and Mail reports, “The possibility of tolls on the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway vaulted to the top of the local agenda . . . when [Toronto mayor John Tory] said he would back the idea, touting it specifically as a way to raise money for infrastructure.” The newspaper adds that Tory has called for Toronto to adopt the world’s “most technologically advanced” tolling system, and “[t]here are lots of good examples to look to, although [a city staff] report talks about the sort of transponder-based system Singapore installed nearly three decades ago.”
The City of Toronto website has information about the proposal for expressway tolling (which is part of a larger revenue generation strategy), including links to issue backgrounders and staff reports.
CanadaPoll Shows Toronto Voters Split on Tolling, but City's Leading Newspaper Is All-In
Toronto Star reports, “How polarizing is the idea of tolling Toronto’s roads? According to a new poll, the city’s electorate is split right down the middle on the issue. The poll by Forum Research Inc. was conducted on Thursday evening, hours after Mayor John Tory threw his support behind a controversial plan to implement road tolls on the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway. It found that 46 per cent of voters approve of road tolls, while 45 per cent disapprove. Nine per cent didn’t know.”
The Globe and Mail editorial board backs the plan and calls for more, writing, “Our only criticism of Mr. Tory’s plan is that it’s too modest. The city and province shouldn’t just toll the [Don Valley Parkway] and the Gardiner. They should toll the other highways, and privatize them.” (The Globe and Mail is widely considered the city’s and Canada’s “newspaper of record.”)
CanadaWill Vancouver Jump on the Tolling Bandwagon?
NEWS1130 reports, “With the idea of tolls now on the table in Toronto, it may provide the push some politicians have been looking for to introduce road pricing in Metro Vancouver. ‘I think many regions around the world are looking to variable pricing for the transportation system, including roads, based on peak demand,’ says Lawrence Frank, a sustainable transportation professor at the University of British Columbia. ‘Variable road pricing real time information is now possible, we have the technology to do it, and we should get on it.’”
CanadaFunding "Swap" Kickstarts New Phase of SH 288 Tollway Project
Houston Chronicle reports, “Drivers have waited years for a tollway stretching south from downtown Houston to Manvel, and now money related to the project will move south as well. Days after local leaders celebrated the recent start of construction [link added] on the $815 million first phase, Texas Transportation Commission members approved giving Brazoria County $10 million to design its segment of the [SH 288] tollway.” The newspaper adds that the design funding “comes from the upfront payment that Blueridge Transportation Group made to finalize its selection as the concessionaire for the Harris County portion of the tollway,” an uncommon but not unprecedented “swap of money.”
Texas Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT)Self-Driving Truck to Begin Traveling on Ohio Pike and US Route 33
Associated Press reports, “A self-driving truck will begin traveling on two Ohio roads [this week] after state officials announce details of new investments to support innovative transportation technology. A vehicle from self-driving truck maker Otto [link added] will travel a 35-mile stretch of U.S. Route 33 [today, November 28] in central Ohio between Dublin and East Liberty, home to the Transportation Research Center, an independent testing facility.” The truck will also travel on the Ohio Turnpike, the report adds.
Self-Driving VehiclesOTA's Gatz Makes the Case for Expansion Projects, $480 Million in New Debt
The Oklahoman editorial board interviews Tim Gatz, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority, who makes the case for construction of the new turnpikes included in the state’s “Driving Forward” initiative and for toll rate increases that will service the initiative’s $480 million in new bond debt. The editors note OTA “is public enemy No. 1 among some residents in eastern Oklahoma County” because of the proposed turnpike expansion, but they conclude, “Ultimately, however, the OTA’s new man in charge firmly believes this as well: ‘This is what we have to do. We’ve got to continue to make these kinds of investments and be forward-thinking.’”
Oklahoma Turnpike Authority (OTA)Despite Defeat of Two Referenda, Tolling Is Still on the Table in Alabama
AL.com looks at options for relieving coastal Baldwin County traffic congestion following voters’ rejection of two toll-related November ballot referenda. According to AL.com, even though officials have “gone back to the drawing board, “[t]olls might not be totally off the table. It’s just unclear when they might resurface.” Some officials reportedly believe the referenda failed because they were not adequately explained to voters.
AlabamaCFX Toll Workers Find "Bizarre and Dangerous Things" in Toll Collection Baskets
WFTV reports, “Toll workers for the Central Florida Expressway Authority find some bizarre and dangerous things when they remove money from the toll money collection baskets.” In the past month alone, CFX employees have removed items including a shotgun shell, a broken shot glass, a rusty fish hook and a razor from toll collection baskets. The items are not only hazardous, they tend to disable the collection mechanisms.
Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX)New County Commissioner Is No Fan of Converting Bob Sikes Bridge to AET
Pensacola News-Journal reports that newly elected District 1 Escambia County Commissioner Jeff Bergosh is not a supporter of converting the county’s Bob Sikes Bridge to an AET system, but he is “open to reducing the toll charge to 50 cents and having automatic buckets to collect change as motorists drive through.” The newspaper adds that Bergosh “has appointed Pensacola Realtor Brigette Brooks to replace longtime Santa Rosa Island Authority member Dave Pavlock.”
Car Plunges Off Lake Pontchartrain Causeway Bridge, Killing Occupant
KSLA reports, “A vehicle plunged off of the southbound lanes of the Causeway Bridge over Lake Pontchartrain around 4 a.m. on Sunday [November 27].” Police and divers pulled the vehicle out of the water. An occupant was found dead in the vehicle.
A proposal to sell $100 million in bonds to finance guardrail and safety bay improvements on the bridge has met with some local opposition.
Lake Pontchartrain Causeway (Metro New Orleans)Matty Moroun's Push to Compete with the Gordie Howe Bridge Project Impacts Windsor Neighborhood
“The Atlantic’s” CityLab.com reports on a Windsor, Ontario, neighborhood where “rows upon rows” of houses owned by Matty Moroun’s Ambassador Bridge company sit empty as the magnate pursues his ambition to build a second span and compete with the proposed Gordie Howe crossing. The report notes, “Discussions around the replacement of his Ambassador Bridge have been lengthy and combative over concerns that the 89-year-old structure can’t handle the predicted 4.3 percent annual increase in border traffic through 2035.” [Broken link deleted.] The article adds that the Ambassador Bridge “generates about $60 million a year in profit from tolls.”
Canada Gordie Howe Int'l BridgeTexans Already Tired of Toll Roads May Not Like Trump's Infrastructure Plan
The Texas Tribune reports, “Part of president-elect Donald Trump’s promise to create new jobs for Americans relies on a ‘deficit-neutral plan’ to spend $1 trillion on public works projects, including hundreds of billions for roads and rail. But the strategy could result in something many Texans aren’t going to like: more toll roads. ‘Unfortunately that’s the way I’ve read it,’ said state Sen. Don Huffines, R-Dallas, vice chair of the Texas Senate transportation committee.”
TexasReason Foundation Plugs OCTA's I-405 Variable Toll Lanes Improvement Project
The Orange County Register publishes an op-ed by Reason Foundation analyst Baruch Feigenbaum praising the county transportation authority’s recent approval of an I-405 improvement project. “While there are no magical solutions to Southern California’s terrible traffic congestion, OCTA’s embrace of variably-priced toll lanes on the 405 will provide workers, emergency vehicles, buses, delivery drivers and truckers with faster travel options.”
California Express Lanes Orange County Transportation Authority (CA)City Officials to Invest $500,000 to Drive Up Truck Traffic at the Free Trade Bridge
Valley Morning Star reports, “More than 24 years after it opened, the Free Trade Bridge is the site of a project aimed at driving up toll revenues. After months of planning, the cities of Harlingen and San Benito are working with Cameron County to build a $500,000 cold storage unit to allow northbound trucks to store their produce as they wait to pass inspection to enter the United States. Officials expect the facility to draw more trucks to the Los Indios bridge, where toll revenues lag far behind other Cameron County bridges [link added].”
Texas