Free Republic

President Donald Trump’s $1 trillion plan to rebuild America’s infrastructure may be unprecedented in size and ambition, but it mimics a controversial scheme championed by Vice President Mike Pence when he was the governor of Indiana. That’s why Pence is the public face of the Trump initiative, and executives from financial firms that helped privatize Indiana’s toll road are in the White House, busily sculpting Trump’s national plan. Pence and his allies like to boast about how Indiana sold control of major roads to private firms, claiming the move prompted corporations to invest money in infrastructure that would otherwise have...

Dozens of public transit projects around the country are in danger of stalling as the White House's plan to boost U.S. infrastructure fails to gain momentum - with thousands of jobs at risk. The uncertainty over these projects has worsened in recent days as President Donald Trump - who had vowed to make the week's focus infrastructure - faced a series of distractions, including a congressional hearing featuring former FBI director James Comey. The president, who had called for $1 trillion in new infrastructure programs to create millions of jobs, now faces an increasing probability that not only will his...

Is fighting sprawl still a goal for those who decide the fate of transportation funding at the federal, state and local levels?Transportation planning is deeply connected to economic development, but there in any agreement about transportation funding among government leaders often ends.Parag Khanna, a senior public policy analyst in Singapore and author of “Connectography: Mapping the Future of Global Civilization,” summarized the political divide over transportation planning like this: “America is increasingly divided not between red states and blue states, but between connected hubs and disconnected backwaters.”But division that stymies transportation planning goes further. Government leaders have always been divided...

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) on Thursday proposed a $9 billion plan to widen three of the state’s most congested highways — the Capital Beltway, Interstate 270 and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway — in what he said would include the largest public-private partnership for highways in North America. The projects would add four toll lanes each to Maryland’s portion of the Capital Beltway (I-495) and to I-270 from the Beltway to Frederick. It would also widen the Baltimore-Washington Parkway (MD 295) by four toll lanes after taking over ownership from the federal government. Because of private-sector involvement, Hogan said, the plan would...

With public funding options limited, Alabama transportation officials are turning to the private sector for advice and creative solutions in paying for the massive Interstate 10 overhaul in coastal Alabama.John Cooper, director of the Alabama Department of Transportation, said Monday that state officials were interested in learning more about project plans from approximately 400 private sector attendees during the two-day Industry Forum at the Arthur R. Outlaw Mobile Convention Center.That includes financing, which remains the biggest hurdle toward moving the project forward in the next year. At this point, no options have been settled including whether to institute tolls to...

Local entities involved in the proposed Interstate 15 Siphon Road interchange signed off this week on plans to start construction on a project expected to dramatically increase the Pocatello area’s population and greatly improve the local economy. Those behind the effort to build the interchange say that with its construction, the area north of Pocatello and Chubbuck will see massive development in the future, including a technology park employing thousands of people, shopping centers, dozens of new neighborhoods, parks, trails and even new concert venues. But before such unheralded growth can occur, the interchange needs to be built. While the...

A toll feasibility study is up in the air for the future Interstate 49 bridge over the Arkansas River with extensions connecting Arkansas 22 to Interstate 40 at Alma. Following approval last year of $10 million in I-49 project development, the Arkansas Department of Transportation solicited bids for a consultant to conduct an I-49 toll feasibility study. They are currently in a negotiation phase, according to ArDOT District 4 Construction Engineer Jason Hughey. ArDOT selected HNTB on June 23 to conduct the “I-49 Alternative Delivery Study.” The negotiations are over the scope of work and process has been “fluid,” ArDOT...

The state has officially taken over the Interstate 69 Section 5 project from I-69 Development Partners.The Indiana Finance Authority announced it had reached an agreement with the private developer in June to take over construction, operation and maintenance of the project after several delays in the completion schedule. To officially take control of the project, the Indiana State Budget Committee had to approve the plans. Additionally, all parties had to endorse a settlement agreement and bondholders had to be paid in full.The finance authority announced Monday it had completed the settlement transaction to terminate the contract with I-69 Development Partners...

Republican Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake’s approval rating is at a drastically low number in his home state after he has continued to bash President Donald Trump according to a new Democratic Poll. The left leaning polling group, Public Policy Polling (PPP) found only 18 percent approve of the job Flake is doing. Meanwhile 62 percent disapprove and 19 percent are not sure how they feel about him. These numbers come after Flake has continued to criticize Trump throughout his presidency and refused to endorse him during the 2016 presidential campaign. If the 2018 mid-term election were held today, just 31...

Dive Brief: The Arizona Department of Transportation has reported that the public-private partnership (P3) constructing the $1.9 billion Phoenix-area Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway will deliver the project in late 2019, three years ahead of schedule, according to Equipment World.The P3's private component, Connect 202 Partners — which is made up of Fluor Enterprises, Granite Construction, Ames Construction and WSP — restructured the 22-mile project so that the last section could be built all at once instead of as nine separate projects as the state originally planned.This is the first time a P3 as been used for a highway project...

The state of Indiana wants to take over the Interstate 69 Section 5 project. Three years after hiring a private developer to build the 21-mile stretch of interstate and then maintain it for 35 years after completion, the state issued a statement Monday saying it’s moving forward to assume control of the project. The proposed takeover was announced along with a revised substantial completion date nearly two years after the original. The new date for Section 5 is Aug. 31, 2018, according to the state finance authority. The statement from the Indiana Finance Authority was sent after media outlets, including...

A telephone survey seeking opinions about the expansion of I-70 through east Denver is generating irate protests from some respondents, who say the survey seems designed to elicit positive responses about the purported benefits of the $1.8 billion project."It was one of the most one-sided push polls I ever listened to," Larry Patchett, a production technician for public television, wrote in a complaint to CDOT. "The entire thing was just a series of opportunities to validate your suppositions and PR spin on the I-70 Ditch project." The project, which would replace a crumbling six-lane viaduct with a below-grade, partially covered...

A challenge to the state's I-77 toll lane was denied by the N.C. Court of Appeals today.The unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel upheld a lower court, which had dismissed a citizen group's attempt to stop the public-private project in Mecklenburg and Iredell counties.This was a big political issue in the 2016 governor's race, costing Pat McCrory a lot of votes in those counties. As a legal issue, the opposition doesn't seem to have much gas.I-77 from Charlotte to Mooresville is a traffic nightmare. To address the congestion, the state's DOT in 2014 signed a contract with a Delaware LLC...

In a matter of days, time will run out on a plan that could cut down on commuting times, pave the way for even less traffic congestion, and potentially give taxpayers a break. For reasons that remain unclear, the General Assembly has ignored the Illinois Department of Transportation's I-55 managed lanes project, and the cost of doing nothing has the potential to harm the state's ability to do business for years to come. The I-55 managed lanes proposal would add an express toll lane between the Veterans Memorial Tollway in the southwest suburbs and the Dan Ryan Expressway in Chicago....

Former presidential candidate Martin O’Malley is one of the first Democrats to begin the process of running for president in 2020, according to a Wednesday report from Politico. The former governor of Maryland commissioned a poll in Iowa, the site of the first caucus in presidential elections, revealing a huge show of interest. O’Malley fared well in the poll, earning 18 percent of voters. The poll included nine other potential candidates: Sens. Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand, former Housing Sec. Julian Castro, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, state Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, as well as...

PPP's new national poll finds that Donald Trump's popularity as President has declined precipitously just over the last two weeks. On our first poll of his Presidency voters were evenly divided on Trump, with 44% approving of him and 44% also disapproving. Now his approval rating is 43%, while his disapproval has gone all the way up to 53%. If voters could choose they'd rather have both Barack Obama (52/44) or Hillary Clinton (49/45) instead of Trump.Just three weeks into his administration, voters are already evenly divided on the issue of impeaching Trump with 46% in favor and 46% opposed....

Virginia's top transportation oversight body voted earlier this month to move ahead with a major tunnel expansion. If everything goes as planned, the multibillion-dollar project could be good news for the traffic-snarled Hampton Roads region when it opens in 2024. But the commonwealth may also be setting itself up for a major financial body blow - and demonstrating the long-term consequences of mismanaging public-private partnerships.

Dear Editor, As states and municipalities around the nation struggle to find ways to afford much-needed improvements to aging and congested roadways, the Commonwealth of Virginia has established itself as an innovative leader when it comes to carefully prioritizing the state’s transportation investments and wisely leveraging private sector resources to ensure the best deal for state taxpayers. The I-66 Outside the Beltway project exemplifies this leadership, and Cintra, together with its partner Meridiam, is proud to be part of the team selected by the Commonwealth to finance, design, build, operate and maintain this more than $3 billion transformative project at...

DENVER (CBS4)– Federal authorities told the Colorado Department of Transportation and opponents of the planned Interstate 70 expansion this week that it would open an investigation into claims the project violates the Civil Rights Act.The pending investigation comes in response to a federal complaint filed with the U.S Department of Transportation by Earthjustice, an environmental law firm, and neighborhood groups impacted by the project, including the Cross Community Coalition, Colorado Latino Forum and Elyria-Swansea Neighborhood Association. Filed last month, the complaint alleges CDOT’s plan will result in “disparate and severe environmental and economic impacts” on the predominantly Latino communities.Candi CdeBaca,...

The Commonwealth of Virginia awarded procurement of its Transform66 Outside the Beltway project to I-66 Express Mobility Partners, a consortium of private companies, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced on Nov. 3. I-66 Express Mobility Partners, which consists of transportation infrastructure company Cintra, public infrastructure investment firm Meridiam, and the contractors Ferrovial Agroman US and Allan Myers VA, Inc., will be responsible for financing, designing, building, maintaining and operating the interstate expansion. The Virginia Department of Transportation’s (VDOT) Transform66 Outside the Beltway project will add two express lanes in each direction between I-495 and Gainesville along with three general purpose lanes...