Free Republic

Just after the end of World War I, a young Army officer who was born in Denison, Texas, was assigned to accompany an expedition of military vehicles driving across America. The mission was to determine the difficulties the nation might face moving an entire army across the continent. Lucky thing the country was no longer at war. The convoy constantly ground to a halt on unpaved roads, sinking into mud, slipping into ditches and sliding into quicksand. The cross-country journey took 62 days, averaging about six miles an hour, something close to the speed of a leisurely walk. The lessons...

A leaked six-page memo that purportedly outlines some of the key principles of the Trump administration’s long-awaited infrastructure plan is drawing fire from several corners of the trucking industry – especially regarding plans to allow states to broaden interstate tolling efforts and commercialize rest stops.“Our primary concern is that the memo talks about giving states the ‘flexibility’ to toll existing interstates and ‘reconcile the grandfathered restrictions on the use of highway toll revenues with current law.’ We’re gearing up for a big fight over that,” Stephanie Kane, spokesperson for the Alliance for Toll-Free Interstates, told Fleet Owner.Related: ATRI: Fuel tax...

SOUTHINGTON, CT — In alphabetical order, a majority of Democratic and one unaffiliated candidates for governor endorsed the idea of installing electronic tolls on Connecticut’s highways and received applause for it. The nine candidates participated in a forum Friday sponsored by the Connecticut Construction Industries Association. The same group sponsored a similar forum in December for the Republican gubernatorial candidates as well. None of the candidates who are still in the “exploratory” phase of their campaigns for governor were invited to either forum — only the declared candidates. The problem: Connecticut’s special transportation fund will start running a deficit in...

Southington — Oz Griebel, a petitioning candidate for governor who once led the state Transportation Strategy Board, told an audience of construction executives and union members Friday that Connecticut must embrace electronic tolling and higher gasoline taxes to preserve and improve its transportation infrastructure.At a transportation forum for Democratic and unaffiliated candidates, Griebel offered the broadest prescription for how to stabilize and grow a special transportation fund now projected to hit insolvency by 2022, leaving the state unable to borrow money to address a growing backlog of transportation needs.Many of the Democrats, unlike the Republican field at a similar event...

Drivers from northern states that use the E-ZPass system for toll roads will be able to use their passes to drive on some Central Florida toll roads — and get the same discount SunPass users receive.Central Florida drivers, however, will not be able to use their EPasses to pay for tolls if they travel to the 16 E-ZPass states, including New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois and South Carolina.“One of our main objectives is to improve the ease and uninterrupted travel that E-ZPass customers enjoy, and portability to the Sunshine State is certainly a common request,” E-ZPass Group Executive Director P.J. Wilkins...

WASHINGTON — Expanding and extending Beltway toll lanes over the Potomac River sooner, delays and changes to D.C. Streetcar plans, and changes to widening plans for a number of roads across the region. Those are some of the transportation projects that moved forward to be part of long-range plans that can actually be constructed in coming years. Other projects accepted Wednesday as having the funding to move forward include an additional lane by 2025 on Interstate 95 south just across the Occoquan River to exit 160, and a plan to widen Route 15 from Battlefield Parkway to Montresor Road near...

AUSTIN - As we begin the new year, congestion on Interstate Highway 35 continues to be a problem for commuters in Central Texas. Late last month, TxDOT leadership voted to scrap plans to add tolls to the interstate. So, what plans does the state have to address traffic on the interstate and other highways? TxDOT is looking to its leadership, the Texas Transportation Commission -- a government-appointed 5-member body. Because leadership voted against tolls, TxDOT is essentially regrouping and said it is wanting to talk with local partners to get to a solution for I-35. KVUE spoke with Ben Wear,...

OKLAHOMA CITY – Drivers across Oklahoma can expect to pay more on some turnpikes next year. On Tuesday, the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority voted to increase the tolls of some routes by 2.5 percent in January. Experts predict that the increase will cost drivers between 5 cents and 10 cents more on their trip. As you may remember, tolls were increased on the state’s turnpikes in March by about 12 percent. At that time, turnpike officials warned that rates would increase again in 2018 and in 2019. Officials say another 2.5 percent increase is expected in 2019.

OKLAHOMA COUNTY - Work is set to begin next week on a controversial, new turnpike that will carve a path through eastern Oklahoma County. The Eastern Oklahoma County Turnpike will connect I-40 to the Turner Turnpike, traveling roughly along Luther Road. Since the project was first announced almost two and a half years ago, it has drawn protests from many in the area who are set to lose their homes and land. “Even to this day, we don’t have a size or an actual line or layout for sure of what they even want,” said Joe Krecke. What Krecke does...

A Lake County environmental group on Thursday sued the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority to stop it from spending any more money to study an extension of Route 53. The lawsuit, filed in Lake County Circuit Court in Waukegan by Livable Lake County and six area homeowners, alleges the Tollway failed to abide by state law in pursuing the controversial project. Specifically, the lawsuit claims that the Tollway violated the Illinois Toll Highway Act by failing to get proper authorization for the corridor from the Illinois legislature and not holding required public hearings. Anthony Vega, a representative for Livable Lake...

New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) officials have announced the section of what is now I-95 in New Jersey from the Scudder Falls Bridge over the Delaware River to the Route 1 Interchange in Mercer County will be redesignated as I-295 in early 2018.This change is part of a larger project in which a new interchange is being constructed to connect I-95 to I-276/Pennsylvania Turnpike in Bristol Township, Pa. The Pennsylvania Turnpike connects to the New Jersey Turnpike at Interchange 6 via the New Jersey Turnpike Pearl Harbor Memorial Turnpike Extension in Florence, N.J. When the new I-95/Pennsylvania Turnpike interchange...

A crack that closed the Delaware River Bridge between Philadelphia and New Jersey last January has prompted the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to plan repairs to 13 other bridges across the state. The crack in welding material, which created a 2-inch gap in a major truss, was so serious that officials thought they might have to permanently close the span owned by the Pennsylvania and New Jersey turnpikes. As a result of that problem, PennDOT looked for similar issues in other bridges; the repairs will involve drilling out areas where welding occurred to fill improperly drilled holes, called plug welding,...

Motorists frustrated by the unending cycle of toll increases by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission can take some comfort in a performance audit of the agency announced by state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale. The latest increase, effective Sunday, boosted tolls 6 percent; it's the 10th consecutive increase in as many years. Mr. DePasquale said the audit will examine the Turnpike Commission's assertion that traffic will increase despite increased tolls. It will also look at the turnpike's annual payments to PennDOT and the commission's process for awarding construction contracts. Given the increasing toll on motorists' wallets, a closer look at turnpike operations...

An indictment against a former co-president of a Maryland-based transportation company that provides services for the transportation of nuclear materials to customers in the United States and abroad, was unsealed today for his alleged role in a scheme that involved the bribery of an official at a subsidiary of Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation. Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Stephen M. Schenning of the District of Maryland, Principal Deputy Inspector General April G. Stephenson of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General (DOE-OIG) and Assistant Director in...

Local planning politics on Los Angeles’s Westside is in a sad state of affairs. There, a municipally-led push to complete city streets by adding bicycle infrastructure and other pedestrian improvements has been met with fierce opposition from local drivers. Recent efforts in L.A’s Mar Vista neighborhood, for example, grew so toxic that community members launched a now-stalled recall bid to remove Mike Bonin—the local council person who champions the so-called “road diets” as well as the city’s Vision Zero plan those diets support—from office. The embarrassing spectacle has thrown into question the commitment L.A. residents have not only toward prioritizing...

The Starbucks on Killeen’s Trimmier Road, near U.S. Highway 190/Interstate 14, was as busy as ever at 4 p.m. Saturday — the day before Christmas Eve. Perhaps it was customers buying gift cards and 12-ounce bags of ground coffee as last-minute gifts for family and friends, or maybe it was shoppers fueling up on caffeine to endure the final stretch of Christmas chores. Either way, Store Manager Jamal Smith hardly had time to talk, as the line of cars in the drive-thru wrapped around the building. Smith is used to the heavy traffic around his store. Being along Trimmier Road,...

HARRISBURG, PA (Jan. 4, 2018) —The PA Turnpike Commission (PTC) today reminded motorists that beginning 12:01 a.m. on Jan. 7 tolls will reflect a six-percent increase for both cash and E-ZPass customers. The toll increase, approved by commissioners last July, is needed to meet the PTC’s funding and capital-improvement obligations. Additionally, the PTC is legislatively mandated to offer $450 million in supplemental funding to PennDOT each year under Act 44 of 2007. Since Act 44 was passed, the PTC has provided payments to PennDOT totaling $5.875 billion. Of that amount, $3.625 billion has provided financial assistance to the commonwealth’s mass-transit...

A new detection system to help prevent wrong-way crashes will be part of an interchange under construction in the south Las Vegas Valley. There were 279 wrong-way driver crashes on Nevada’s freeway systems from 2005 to 2015, according to the Nevada Department of Transportation. They resulted in 41 fatalities and 125 injuries. After researching ways to address the problem, NDOT determined a system using vehicle detection, cameras and red rectangular rapid-flashing beacons should be employed. To implement the system, NDOT requested and received permission from the Federal Highway Administration to experiment with the beacons. Permission was needed because red rapid...

The Northgate project that involves constructing an interchange on Interstate 15 north of Pocatello and is expected to trigger a landslide of development simultaneously took one step forward and another backward last week. The Pocatello City Council unanimously approved the annexation of nearly 300 acres of land north of East Chubbuck Road on Thursday, but the Idaho Transportation Department also learned the construction cost of the interchange alone has increased by about $4 million. There has been some speculation that the increased costs could negatively impact the project, but the ITD board is scheduled to meet on Thursday at its...

A future Interstate 49 and whether it will become Arkansas’ first toll road are being considered, with public meetings likely coming in early 2018, reports KFSM news station.The interstate section being considered would stretch from Barling to Alma over the Arkansas River. The Arkansas Department of Transportation has commissioned a study on charging tolls on the future highway section.The study is scheduled to be completed next fall, and public meetings are expected at the first of 2018 to get public input on the project, the station reports.Interstate 49 would eventually stretch from New Orleans to Canada. Portions of the highway...