Daily News Briefs, October 27, 2016

PA Turnpike "Gets Tools" to Pursue Scofflaws: Lawmakers Send Enforcement Bill to Governor's Desk

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports, “The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission will soon have additional tools to go after more than $49 million in unpaid tolls. The state House on Wednesday [October 26] gave final approval” to HB 2025, which authorizes PennDOT to suspend a vehicle registration upon notice that the registrant or owner has six or more toll violations, or unpaid tolls and fees that collectively total $500 or more, regardless of the number of violations. The bill “includes a reciprocity agreement that allows other states with similar laws to go after violators on behalf of Pennsylvania[,] and the commonwealth will go after Pennsylvania residents who refuse to pay tolls in other states,” according to the report.

PennLive.com notes that the legislation also “makes it illegal to obscure a vehicle registration plate in such a way that blocks the electronic toll collection system from identifying the vehicle.”

WAND News (Decatur, IL) earns the headline of the day award for this, “PA Turnpike Wants Deadbeat Illinois Drivers To Pay Up,” in an article observing that the PA Turnpike “is fed up with toll violators from Illinois and other states and wants scofflaws to pay up.”

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PA Turnpike Takes Civil Action Against Scofflaws

Lehighvalleylive.com covers the turnpike commission’s push for passage of HB 2025 (the bill now on Governor Tom Wolf’s desk granting the commission broader toll enforcement powers) and notes, “The commission has filed civil actions against some [commercial toll violators], and recently made the decision to publicize the top offenders in an effort to persuade lawmakers – and the public – that stronger consequences are needed for violators.”

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Streetsblog NYC Reveals Police Use of Illegal License Plate Covers to Avoid Traffic Citations and Tolls

Streetsblog NYC reports that a Twitter user, @placardabuse, “does yeoman’s work posting images of personal cars with NYPD placards violating myriad laws, including blocking fire hydrants, blocking crosswalks, and parking on sidewalks.” The report adds, “Particularly brazen is the practice of obscuring license plates to evade toll readers and traffic enforcement cameras. The @placardabuse account has captured the illegal covers on numerous NYPD-placarded vehicles, some in the parking lot at 1 Police Plaza.”

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KS Governor's Pick for KDOT Secretary-KTA Director May Face Confirmation Challenge

Lawrence Journal-World reports, “Gov. Sam Brownback officially named Richard Carlson to be the next permanent secretary of the Kansas Department of Transportation and director of the Kansas Turnpike Authority, but some are already saying he could face opposition when he comes up for confirmation by the Kansas Senate.” (Carlson has been serving as interim secretary since July.) The report adds, “Senate Democratic Leader Anthony Hensley, of Topeka, said Carlson could face a tough confirmation process. ‘I would be reluctant to send his confirmation out of committee. There can be a pretty strong case made against his confirmation from the standpoint that he was chairman of the tax committee when we passed the 2012 tax plan, which led to the $2 billion raiding of the highway fund to balance the budget,’ Hensley said. ‘You’re essentially putting the fox in charge of the chicken coop.’”

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MassDOT Video Illustrates Toll Plaza Demolition Plan

MassLive.com reports, “Days before Massachusetts switches to a cashless system of toll collection, the state’s Department of Transportation has posted a video showing how they plan to demolish the toll plazas.” The report adds, “Once the toll plazas are down and all-electronic tolling is working smoothly, which is expected to occur around this time next year, drivers will see less congestion and better air quality, transportation officials say.”

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MassDOT E-ZPass Website Goes Down as AET Rush Continues

WesternMassNews.com reports that MassDOT’s E-ZPass website was down for some time on Wednesday, October 26, due to the rush of users seeking transponders as the state’s turnpike converts to AET. According to a department representative, MassDOT has seen “a massive spike in web traffic. The website is at capacity.”

WWLP News reports that MassDOT is encouraging users to access the website after the 7 p.m. closing hour of the E-ZPass customer service center, and response time seems to improve after that hour.

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New MoPac Express Lane Is Delivering Congestion Relief

Community Impact Newspaper reports, “In its . . . opening week, the new northbound MoPac express lane . . . between RM 2222 and Parmer Lane is helping reduce some congestion in the main lanes, according to the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority. The Mobility Authority opened a portion of the northbound express lane Oct. 15, and the agency recorded more than 15,450 transactions in the first week.”

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CTRMA's Heiligenstein Says MoPac Contractor Could Face Additional Costs of $20 Million-$30 Million

Community Impact Newspaper provides a detailed timeline and breakdown of the MoPac express lane project. CTRMA Executive Director Mike Heiligenstein tells the newspaper his agency has learned “quite a few lessons” from the conditions and issues that have caused delays in the project’s completion, “including the need for more oversight on complicated elements, such as the express lane underpasses that will connect to Cesar Chavez and Fifth streets.” Heiligenstein adds that the agency’s contractor, CH2M, “recommended the underpasses as part of the design-build process” and “drastically underestimated” its costs, particularly the costs for the underpasses. “I wouldn’t be surprised if [the cost] was an additional $20 million-$30 million. It’s their responsibility,” Heiligenstein says.

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Bridgegate: Defense Rests and Jury Is Expected to Begin Deliberations Next Week

NJ.com reports, “After six weeks of testimony, dozens of witnesses and declarations of innocence from the two former Christie administration insiders now on trial, the defense in the Bridgegate scandal has rested. Summations are scheduled to begin on Thursday [i.e., today, October 27] and the jury is expected to begin their deliberations on Monday [October 31].”

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Usage and Toll Ceiling on Atlanta's I-85/75 Express Lanes Continue to Climb

WBTV News reports, “Drivers in the Atlanta area are using the toll lanes on I-85/75 more than ever before but the increased usage comes with a price. It can cost as much as $13.95 to drive the 16-mile stretch of toll lane into Downtown Atlanta.”

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MTA Board Members Raise Funding Questions about AET Conversion Plan

amNewYork reports, “Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s plan to eliminate toll booths is not getting an easy pass. MTA board members, including the city’s Department of Transportation commissioner, have raised concerns over funding sources and implementation of the plan to automate tolling at all agency bridges and tunnels. Before voting on a motion that would allow the agency to begin the process of replacing toll booths at the MTA’s two tunnels . . . , DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg and other board members said they had little information regarding funding sources for the projects, estimated to cost about $513 million, and how much of an impact fully automated tolls would have on toll collection.”

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Cape May County Bridge Commission Lacks Funds for Repair and Replacement Projects

The Cape May Gazette reports that the Cape May County Bridge Commission needs to boost revenue to replace and maintain bridges. “The commission’s 2015 financial report showed $2.75 million in toll revenue, including $864,872 from the Middle Thorofare Bridge, with more than 600,000 cars using it one way that year. But the same report put operating expenses for the independent public agency at $3.2 million, with personnel costs taking up the largest portion,” the newspaper reports.

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Protesters Form Human Chain at GW Bridge, Snarling Rush Hour Traffic

PIX 11 News (WPIX, NYC) reports, “Major delays on the George Washington Bridge [yesterday morning, October 26] were caused by nearly a dozen protesters who staged a rush-hour demonstration on the upper level of the span heading into Manhattan. Protestors laid a chain across the upper level, halting incoming traffic. They also formed a human chain across the lanes.” The station adds that ten demonstrators who said they were representing the “marginalised” were arrested and charged with reckless endangerment and criminal trespassing.

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Fitch Affirms Rating of a Miami-Dade Causeway's Revenue Bonds

Fitch Ratings “has affirmed the ‘BBB’ rating on approximately $31.09 million of Miami-Dade County’s . . . Rickenbacker Causeway . . . series 2014 revenue bonds. The Rating Outlook is Stable.”

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Fitch Downgrades Rating of IFA I-69 PABs

Fitch Ratings announced that it has downgraded to ‘B’ from ‘BB’ the Indiana Finance Authority’s private activity bonds issued on behalf of I-69 Development Partners LLC (I-69 DP) for the I-69, Section 5 project. The bonds will remain on “Rating Watch Negative.” Fitch’s news release adds, “The downgrade reflects continued delays in construction and unresolved disputes between I-69 DP Isolux-Corsan USA (the construction contractor), and the IFA resulting in a limited margin remaining to complete the project by the current Long-Stop date.”

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