Free Republic

HALTOM CITY, Texas (AP) - Shon Newsome almost got tricked into paying a toll for a third time. But on a recent afternoon, just before she was about to drive onto a Loop 820 on-ramp that would have required her to pay a toll, the sales executive pulled off the highway in Haltom City and asked a bystander for directions. She was trying to figure out which lane on the two-lane ramp would take her to the toll-free lanes - but the answer wasn’t clear.

In an unprecedented move to protect Washington Metro riders’ safety, the entire transit system was closed for a day last week in order to conduct emergency inspections of electric cables. This had to be done, since a rash of fires, fatalities and other breakdowns has raised concerns about the 40-year-old rail system’s continued capacity to deliver safe, reliable service. Currently the Metro Rail fares cover only a portion of its operating expenses. The system is completely dependent on its parent jurisdictions for paying any capital costs. Without state support, the necessary money would not be available. Few events better highlight...

Dianna Montague made history when she became the first African-American woman to join the Philadelphia’s Iron Workers Union Local 405. As the chairman and CEO of Iron Lady Enterprises Inc., Montague holds the distinction of being one of the only female ironworkers in Philadelphia. She is a certified master welder, rigger and rod setter. Montague is now working on one of the nation’s largest infrastructure projects, the $3.9 billion New NY Bridge. It will replace the Tappan Zee Bridge in Hudson Valley, N.Y., and is expected to be completed in 2018. Her company is responsible for land-based rebar fabrication and...

Tennessee's rule factory is cranking at full tilt, and Nashville lawmakers want to tell Memphians how to pay for bike lanes, what monuments we can move, and whether or not we can own skunks (seriously). No gas tax for bike lanes A new bill would prohibit spending any gas tax revenues on bike lanes, pedestrian walkways, and "other non-vehicular facilities." Portions of the state gas tax are required to go to cities and counties. Those governments sometimes use the gas tax funds for matching dollars to get federal money for bike and pedestrian projects. The new bill says all of...

The federal government would get more bang for their buck if U.S. drivers were charged directly for their use of highways through tolls or mileage fees, a new study from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says.The report from Congress's budgetary scorekeepers says current "spending on highways does not correspond very well with how the roads are used and valued." The CBO said mechanisms like tolling, mileage fees or congestion pricing could be considered to fund transportation projects in lieu of relying mostly on gas tax revenue."Almost all federal spending for highways occurs through formula grants to state and local governments,...

A divide between the Illinois tollway and Chicago on the cost of airport land needed for the Elgin-O'Hare Expressway extension is threatening progress on the massive project, considered vital for the suburbs. An agreement to sell property on the western edge of O'Hare to the tollway at market value more than a decade ago has disintegrated, officials said, and the city's latest price tag of about $190 million is giving the tollway sticker-shock. "We've been negotiating for a long time. ... It's within the last couple of months I've realized how far apart we were," tollway Chairman Robert Schillerstrom said....

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has announced with members of the state general assembly a plan allowing the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) to add at least one additional lane in each direction to a 25-mile stretch of Interstate 55 near Chicago using a public-private partnership (P3) agreement. IDOT is allowed to use P3 agreements only if the general assembly adopts a resolution supporting a proposed project, a state law in place since 2011. This would be the first P3 managed lane project in the state. “By using existing resources to leverage private investment, we can build the type of infrastructure...

Pennsylvania will be about $6 billion short of being able to fund all the projects legislators promised their constituents during passage of Act 89, the transportation funding bill of 2013. Secretary Leslie Richards will break the news to the Senate Transportation Committee when she testifies Tuesday, according to a copy of her testimony obtained by the Tribune-Review. Pennsylvania's 12-year transportation plan covers about 2,800 projects at a cost of about $34 billion. But that exceeds the $28 billion in revenue projected to come in for that time frame. “The Corbett administration over promised projects by at least $6 billion compared...

In the end, state Transportation Secretary Lynn Peterson wasn’t derailed by nearly $400 million in Highway 520 bridge overruns, or even the two-year delay in the Highway 99 tunnel, a pair of projects that she inherited. Instead, the cardinal sin that Peterson and her department committed was to infuriate suburban motorists. Senate Republicans on Friday ousted Peterson without warning, by voting not to confirm her, three years after Gov. Jay Inslee appointed her. Blame a bumpy rollout of Interstate 405 express-toll lanes, which were meant to improve traffic flows in south Snohomish and northeast King counties. Instead, they moved some...

WASHINGTON (AP) — After years of stymied efforts to address the nation's aging and congested highways and transit systems, Congress found the sweet spot for passage on Thursday — a 5-year, $305 billion bill laden with enough industry favors, parochial projects, safety improvements and union demands to gain overwhelming support. The bill was approved 359 to 65 in the House, and 83 to 16 in the Senate. The bill now goes to the White House for President Barack Obama's signature.

Last month, a garbage truck caused a parking lot on Interstate 35 through downtown Austin when it got stuck underneath the overpass at I-35 and 12th Street. To avoid scenes like that from happening in the future, the Texas Department of Transportation is installing a new bridge warning system to detect overheight trucks along the southbound lanes of I-35 between Airport Boulevard and Riverside Drive. KXAN News told you about the workgroup formed last year to address the issue of overheight trucks. The detection system will be placed at three locations along I-35, including just north of Martin Luther King...

CLARKSVILLE, Md. — Big improvements to Maryland Route 32 will cover more than 20 miles from Clarksville to Eldersburg. Gov. Larry Hogan and Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman announced Thursday that a stretch of Route 32 will get a much-needed expansion. After nearly a decade of pleading with state officials, the traffic and safety nightmare on Route 32 is finally being addressed. Hogan is committing $152 million to widening the highway and making safety improvements. "Governor, there are citizens who have died on this roadway. There are friends of all of us who have died or have been hurt, and...

A major government announcement could dramatically reduce crashes on our roads. Equipping the country's cars and trucks with the vehicle-to-vehicle technology, or V2V, will essentially allow vehicles to see each other and warn of a potential danger before a driver know it is there. The Department of Transportation has now taken a key step towards requiring the technology to be in every car in the U.S., reports CBS News correspondent Kris Van Cleave.

INDIANAPOLIS — Maintaining the state’s roads and bridges is work fraught with obstacles and hazards. It doesn’t daunt Ed Soliday, a retired pilot and safety expert who loves telling stories and spinning metaphors. “I’m evangelist, and may 1,000 angels sing when somebody comes to see the light,” said Soliday, Republican chairman of the House Roads and Transportation Committee, who aims to convince fellow lawmakers to set aside politics in search of sustainable road funding. Don’t queue the music just yet. Soliday’s ideas for raising cash for deteriorating roads and bridges include some politically unpalatable proposals, such as tax hikes and...

President Obama is entering his final year in office with one of his most ambitious first term promises -- a nationwide network of high speed railways -- largely unfilled. Obama spoke frequently in his first term about developing the network. He imagined a U.S. rail system that would rival the interstate highway system, citing similar train systems in European countries that are widely popular. Obama included $8 billion in his 2009 economic stimulus package to jump start the high-speed rail program in the U.S. But seven years later, Obama has little to show for the effort. His stimulus offer was...

HANCOCK — The Sideling Hill Welcome Center is now more than just the most scenic set of fair-weather restrooms in Western Maryland after Lt. Gov. Boyd K. Rutherford and a host of elected officials on Friday reopened the facility, which has been closed for the last six years. Perched on the east side of Sideling Hill near Hancock, where a massive cut in the mountain rock allows Interstate 68 to pass through, the center was closed in 2009, in a move by former Gov. Martin O'Malley that did not sit well with many area residents. "It was done for political...

BOSTON - The MBTA fiscal control board revised the public transit agency's advertising policy after opponents of an ad taking aim at the Israeli government packed a board meeting and demanded the immediate removal of the ad from an MBTA station. Dr. Charles Jacobs, the head of the group Americans for Peace and Tolerance, said the ad puts Jewish people in danger. Others said it incites hatred and pointed to the death of Sharon’s Ezra Schwartz, who was killed last week in a terror attack while studying in Israel.

When Congress left town for the August recess, it did so without coming to an agreement on a long-term transportation bill. Instead, the president signed a three-month extension that set the stage for another showdown this fall. More than 30 such temporary extensions have passed since the last multi-year transportation bill expired in 2011. The inability of Congress to come together to pass a transportation package has frustrated the myriad special interests whose lobbyists want assurances that the dollars will keep flowing for years, and not just months, to come. And the media, which seldom miss an opportunity to push...

According to the Association of American Railroads shows that rail traffic continues to slow down, as shipments of a range of commodities are sharply lower from a year ago. New data shows fewer shipped cargoes of coal, grain, metals, and oil across the United States in early November. For example, coal shipments are down 9.7 percent year-to-date compared to the same period in 2014. Cargoes of oil and other petroleum products are also down 7.7 percent over the same timeframe. For coal, the slowdown is due to dramatic fall off in coal production. As more and more coal plants are...

here were plenty of high-fives and backslaps on Thursday as the House overwhelmingly approved a multi-year, $325 billion transportation bill designed to address the nation’s woeful highway, bridge and infrastructure system. Leaders from both parties hailed the 363 to 64 vote – capping three days of debate and consideration of 100 amendments -- as a major breakthrough essential to rebuilding the nation’s pothole riddled highways. As so often has been the case in Congress’s seemingly endless transportation melodrama, there is a lot less to the bill than meets the eye. Much of the promised new funding hinges on budget gimmicks...