Daily News Briefs, October 17, 2016

CTRMA Opens First Segment of MoPac Express Lanes

Austin American-Statesman transportation reporter Ben Wear, who was the first paying customer to use the first segment of the northbound MoPac Boulevard express lanes over the weekend, gives credit to Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority officials “who somehow have retained a sense of humor despite battles with their construction contractor and a project more than a year tardy. . . .” Wear writes, “The initial toll transaction figures won’t provide a complete answer about how Austinites will react to what is sometimes called ‘dynamic’ tolling. But, given some weeks or months to settle out, drivers’ use of the lane will shed at least some light on that question. And, MoPac aside, this answer matters because variable tolling is under consideration for new lanes on South MoPac, Interstate 35 and U.S. 183 in Northwest Austin between MoPac and Texas 45 North.”

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Foye Reportedly to Remain at PANYNJ's Helm

Daily News (New York) reports, “Aides to Gov. Cuomo are shooting down talk that Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Executive Director Pat Foye will be returning to the governor’s office in a top position. They say Foye, who at one time was set to depart the Port Authority, is staying put to see through the rebuilding of LaGuardia Airport and other projects.”

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Kentucky Adopts Regulations for Ohio River Bridges Toll Enforcement

WDRB News reports, “Drivers will have roughly two months to challenge tolls believed to be charged incorrectly on Ohio River bridges, under rules approved [on October 14 by Kentucky’s Public Transportation Infrastructure Authority.]” The rules reportedly create a two-stage appeal process culminating in an administrative hearing for any motorist who believes he has received an erroneous toll charge. The station adds that the new regulations “also allow the state’s vehicle enforcement officers and inspectors to pull over drivers of tractor trailers that have past due tolls. . . .”

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Baton Rouge Leaders Press Case for New, $1 Billion Mississippi River Bridge

The Advocate (Baton Rouge) reports that a chamber of commerce CEO remarked at a gubernatorial task force hearing last week that Louisiana needs needs at least $600 million more annually for transportation and Baton Rouge needs a new Mississippi River Bridge to contend with the “cancer” that is traffic congestion. State transportation chief Shawn Wilson reportedly observed during the meeting that he sees support for more highway expenditures growing around the state and that Governor John Bel Edwards “is willing to be big and bold in transportation.” Options the task force is considering include a gasoline tax increase, tolls and P3 projects.

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Clinton Campaign Briefs Mayors on Five-Year, $275 Billion Infrastructure Renewal Plan

CityLimits.org covers a recent US Conference of Mayors gathering in New York City where Hillary Clinton surrogate Ed Rendell (the former Philadelphia mayor and Pennsylvania Governor) presented the presidential candidate’s positions on infrastructure renewal. Rendell reportedly “said all the right things,” as he outlined Clinton’s plan “to spend $275 billion over five years on roads, bridges, aviation, freight and broadband. . . .” He acknowledged that getting the necessary federal appropriations would be a challenge for Clinton, but said she is committed to undertaking the fight. On tolling, Rendell reaffirmed his support for creating a local option to toll federally-supported highways, “but stressed that Clinton has not taken a position on that yet.”

According to the City Limits article, the Trump campaign chose not to send a representative to the meeting, and the conference CEO remarked that “surrogate lines [at Trump headquarters] have gone silent.”

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MassDOT's Plan for Massive Toll Plaza Demolition Project

Boston Herald describes the operational plans for MassDOT’s non-stop, thirty-day project to remove turnpike toll plazas prior to the start of all-electronic tolling. The newspaper reports that the “massive, around-the-clock demolition project” will begin on October 29. In addition to keeping 200 state troopers on duty around-the-clock to manage and observe traffic, MassDOT will open a command post in its headquarters building “and hold daily phone teleconferences with contractors at all toll plazas, state police and the district highway directors to evaluate traffic levels for the evening and the next day’s commute.”

Elsewhere in the Herald, state highway administrator Tom Tinlin asks turnpike motorists to be smart and patient in the face of the disruption. ““People have described projects like this as flying a plane while you’re building it,” Tinlin tells the newspaper.

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Transportation Industry Veterans Promote Greater Workforce Diversity

ConstructionDive.com reports that five of the women transportation professionals who talk about their careers in 2015’s Boots On the Ground, Flats in the Boardroom, including HNTB’s Mary Jane O’Meara, told a recent, male-dominated  conference session that workplace diversity has both business and moral benefits. The website notes, “The transportation sector . . . is facing the same challenge as construction: drawing women into the business and keeping them from leaving. Females represent only . . . 12% of the transportation industry, but they make up 47% of the total U.S. workforce.”

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PA Turnpike Plans Transition to Roadside Fiber-Optic, Broadband Communication System

Republican-Herald (Pottsville, PA) reports, “The Pennsylvania Turnpike could communicate directly to cars and trucks someday with a new communications system already in the works. The turnpike commission hopes to choose legal and financial consultants later this year to guide plans to develop a fiber-optic cable broadband internet network along the 550 miles of turnpike.” The newspaper adds that turnpike officials “hope to issue a request for proposals seeking companies to build and operate the network by the end of this year with construction starting at the end of 2017.”

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Technology and Smart Design Help Defeat HOV/HOT Lane Abuses

Wired.com reports on the enforcement of HOV/HOT lane use rules. The article looks at Xerox’s Vehicle Passenger Detection System, which uses imaging and algorithms to catch motorists in the act of cheating on HOV occupancy rules. Highway designs that include physical lane dividers are also mentioned. Research suggests dividers both discourage “lane diving,” the most common form of HOV abuse, and facilitate faster traffic flow within express lanes. Chris Tomlinson of Georgia’s State Road and Tollway Authority tells Wired that vigilant enforcement is important even if a small minority of motorists are violators, because visible abuse of rules causes public disenchantment with HOV and HOT mobility solutions.

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Bridgegate Trial: Baroni is Expected to Testify Today

NJ.com reports that former Bill Baroni is expected to take the stand in his own behalf during today’s session of the federal criminal trial probing the George Washington Bridge lane closures fiasco. Last Friday (October 14), Baroni’s attorney opened the case in defense by questioning Charles McKenna, Governor Chris Christie’s former chief counsel, about his recollection of “back-scenes discussions in the governor’s office over Bridgegate” as the scandal unfolded. Several witnesses testified later about the character of Mr. Baroni, PANYNJ’s former deputy executive director charged with conspiring to cause the lane closures for political purposes.

Courthouse News Service reports on a defense motion to dismiss the charges against Baroni and co-defendant Bridget Kelly on the grounds of vagueness and insufficient evidence. The judge did not immediately rule on the motion.

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Golden Gate Bridge Hires More Officers for Suicide Intervention Patrol

Marin Independent Journal reports, “Five new officers will be hired to patrol the Golden Gate Bridge specifically to look for people who are suicidal. Between 2000 and 2005, bridge officers were able to stop an average of 52 people a year from jumping from the span. Between 2006 and 2010, the number increased to an average of 73 a year.” At a cost of about $637,000 per year, the newspaper says, “[t]he new officers will be hired, trained and on the span in about two months. The move by the bridge board is the latest to address the vexing issue.” The article also notes that despite a funding setback caused by unexpectedly high construction bids, the bridge district is still moving ahead with a plan to build a physical barrier to suicide attempts.

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Williamson County (TX) Poised to Start New Projects, Including SH 130 Tollway Connector

Austin American-Statesman reports that Williamson County Commissioners compiled a list of road projects to begin planning during a workshop last week. Three new roads described by the newspaper as “segments of future routes in the county’s long-term transportation plan” are on the list, including one that will connect the SH 130 toll road with FM 3349. The newspaper adds that the commissioners will consider taking a formal vote to approve the projects at a public meeting tomorrow morning, October 18.

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Christie Approves Gas Tax Increase Bill, Lifts Transportation Work Moratorium

NJ.com reports that on Friday, October 14, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed a bill raising the state’s gasoline tax by 23 cents per gallon, the first such increase since 1988. The higher rate will take effect on November 1. Christie also lifted the moratorium on construction projects he implemented by executive order on June 30 after the state legislature balked over his terms for agreeing to a tax increase to replenish New Jersey’s transportation trust fund. According to NJ.com, the work stoppage affected more than 1,000 road, bridge and rail projects.

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American Bridge Offered Contract to Rehab Tacony-Palmyra Bridge's Bascule Mechanics

Burlington County Times (subscription required) reports that the Burlington County Bridge Commission approved a $2.4 million contract with American Bridge Company for rehabilitation of the bascule span mechanical system on the Tacony-Palmyra toll bridge. Work on the bridge’s opening mechanism “is part of an overall $9.25 million project to also replace the bascule span equipment on the Burlington-Bristol and Delanco-Riverside bridges,” the newspaper adds.

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It's a Boy! Mass Turnpike Welcomes New Customer.

WCVB News reports that a Framingham woman gave birth to a baby boy on the Massachusetts Turnpike Sunday night, October 16, with some help from state police troopers and Boston paramedics.

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