Daily News Briefs, September 12, 2016

Posted on September 12, 2016

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SF Bay Bridge Rainy Day Fund Runs Low. Cash Earmarked for Other Projects Will Close Resulting Funding Gap.

San Francisco Chronicle reports, “Three years after it opened, the eastern span of the Bay Bridge has been beset with so many problems that a multimillion-dollar rainy-day fund set aside for unanticipated expenses has been nearly devoured, leaving toll-payers responsible for any additional costs,” and the Toll Bridge Program Oversight Committee provided a report to the state legislature last week stating that “just $67.7 million remains in the contingency fund, far short of the estimated $184 million bridge authorities say they need.” An MTC spokesperson says toll increases will not be needed to fill the funding gap. The newspaper adds, “Instead, cash that the authority has already banked for improvements on the region’s toll bridges and their approaches will cover the costs. ‘When you go over budget, you lose opportunities,’ said Andrew Fremier, deputy executive director of the toll authority.” Click here and scroll down to page 28 of the PDF to read the committee’s report on the reserve fund.

Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC)

VDOT, Hampton Roads Planners Roll Out Proposals for New Hampton Roads Crossing

The Virginian-Pilot staffs recent public meetings and provides a detailed look at proposals for building a new Hampton Roads crossing submitted by VDOT and the Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization. The article states, “Just overhearing conversations, a lot [of meeting attendees] seem to favor ‘Alternative D,’ a massive $12 billion build-out of more lanes on the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel and a new harbor crossing stretching from Interstate 564 by the port in Norfolk to the MMMBT, plus a lot more.”

Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT)

MTA, PANYNJ Year-End Data Show Traffic Increase

New York Post reports, “Some 392 million vehicles drove across the city’s tolled bridges and tunnels in the year that ended June 30 — a 4 percent increase over the previous year, MTA and Port Authority data show. The Triborough was the busiest bridge in the city, carrying 64 million vehicles, say the records analyzed by AAA New York.” The article attributes the increase to an improved economy, relatively low gas prices and a “surge” in vehicle registrations in the city.

PANYNJ Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (MTA Bridges and Tunnels)

HNTB Survey Finds Increased Public Support for Tolling

HNTB announces, “Increasing congestion on our nation’s highways and roads is driving almost three in four (72 percent) Americans to support using tolls to pay for critical or needed transportation infrastructure projects if there are insufficient funds from other sources, according to the latest America THINKS national public opinion survey by HNTB Corporation.
The survey, Tolling 2016, also found that nearly seven in 10 (69 percent) Americans are willing to pay a toll over a free alternative if they knew it would save them time and avoid congestion.”

Riverside County 91 Freeway Project Nears Completion

The Press Enterprise reports, “The yearslong project to add six lanes and dozens of bridges to a congested section of the 91 freeway in Corona is more than 80 percent complete.” The newspaper provides a lengthy Q&A on the Riverside County Transportation Commission’s project, slated to be completed in May 2017, including the estimated tolls for the express lanes. According to the newspaper, “Preliminary Riverside County Transportation Commission figures show a Riverside commuter could . . . spend more than $100 a week in express lane fees to drive daily into Orange County and back, though [RCTC spokeswoman Eliza] Perez said an independent study found most drivers only planned to use the toll roads twice a week.”

Express Lanes Riverside County (CA) Transportation Commission (RCTC)

RiverLink: Motorcyclists Should Choose E-ZPass Transponder over Sticker

WDRB News (Louisville) reports that RiverLink is out with a recommendation that motorcyclists planning to use the Ohio River Bridges should get an E-ZPass transponder (attachable with aftermarket devices) rather than choosing the free sticker alternative.

Louisville-Southern Indiana Ohio River Bridges

Russell or Chamberlain? Ginger or Mary Ann? Cash or AET at Maine Pike's York Plaza? The Great Debates Just Never End.

Seacoastonline.com reports, “Losses to the Maine Turnpike Authority from instituting a toll system without cash lanes in York would be staggering, said MTA Executive Director Peter Mills on [September 9]. But York Town Manager Steve Burns said all-electronic, or cashless, tolling is a viable alternative. He believes such a plan would be the least damaging alternative environmentally and for York people.” Click here for the definitive answer on who is more idolized – Ginger or Mary Anne – courtesy of Facebook.

AET (All-Electronic Tolling) Maine Turnpike Authority

MA Officials Huddle on Stopgap Measures to Relieve Cape Cod Bridge Congestion

The Boston Globe reports that transportation officials will meet on September 28 to discuss “stopgap projects” to relieve the seasonal traffic congestion on Cape Cod bridges as they continue to explore rebuilding the bridges or adding a new, third crossing.

Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT)

Bay Area Highway 101 Expansion (Express Lanes Included) Scheduled for Updated Review

Streetsblog San Francisco reports, “San Mateo County’s effort to expand Highway 101 from eight to ten traffic lanes moves ahead next month when an $11.5 million update of the project’s environmental review begins. County transportation officials had planned since 2009 to expand the highway with standard carpool lanes, but agreed last year to consider installing Express Lanes as well, an option favored by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC).” [Link revised.]

Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC)

More on Ohio Pike's AET Customer Survey and Toll Collection System Investment

The Blade (Toledo) reports, “It’s been less than a decade since the Ohio Turnpike spent $50 million overhauling its toll-collection system, but it’s already looking toward the next upgrade. As part of planning for that project, the turnpike posted an online survey that, in large part, asks people whether they use electronic toll payment and whether they’d support a toll increase if gates were to be removed at toll plazas to allow faster vehicle processing.” [Link added.] The report adds, “Introducing some form of open-road tolling now is under consideration, although Brian Newbacher, a turnpike spokesman, said that would not necessarily require higher tolls.”

AET (All-Electronic Tolling) Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission

Judge Issues Open Records Ruling on Governor Christie's Personal Email

The Record reports, “Governor Christie’s personal email must be searched — or he must prove that it already has been — to comply with the state’s open-records law, a Superior Court judge has ruled.” The ruling comes after the publisher of The Record filed an Open Public Records Act request that “sought a range of records, including email correspondence, among Christie and his aides dealing with a 2013 meeting with Democratic Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop and the Port Authority.”

New Jersey Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ)

Baldwin County (AL) Voters Face November Referendum on Creating New Toll Authority

WKRG News reports, “Voters will be asked to approve a Baldwin County toll authority on the November ballot. It would give the legislature the power to establish a toll authority to oversee the construction and operation of future toll roads,” including the proposed extension of the Beach Express from Interstate 10 to I-65.

Former Lawmaker Blasts Hillsborough County's Transportation Planning and TBX

Tampa Bay Times publishes an op-ed by former Florida House member Mary Figg who contends, “Once again, the Hillsborough County Commission has proposed an inadequate transportation plan that will disappoint advocates and users of public transportation. This so-called plan looked first for a source of money and then tailored minor transportation improvements to fit the income. The process was as flawed as is its outcome. In no way is this proposal a plan; it is a punt that avoids tackling the large, long-range transportation issues in our community. Figg adds that the TBX project, “a road-only option,” further damages neighborhoods already affected by interstate highway construction and “taxes local people three times to pay for a federal/state interstate highway.”

Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) Tampa Bay Express

CCRMA Cracking down on Bicyclists, Scooters, Farm Vehicles Improperly Using SH 550

Valley Morning Star reports, “When the Cameron County Regional Mobility Authority invites more people to use the S.H. 550 toll road, it doesn’t mean bicyclists.” The report adds, “Although scooters, construction and farm vehicles also have been spotted making unauthorized use of the road, bikes are the primary scofflaws, CCRMA communications director Michelle Lopez said.” Lopez tells the newspaper that “CCRMA plans to erect signs spelling out the rules, an action to be followed by an enforcement presence.”

Cameron County Regional Mobility Authority (CCRMA)

Fitch Rates CFX Bonds

Fitch Ratings “has assigned an ‘A’ rating to Central Florida Expressway Authority’s (CFX) approximately $452 million series 2016B senior lien refunding revenue bonds. The Rating Outlook is Stable.”

Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX) Investment Ratings