Free Republic

<p>Acadiana lost $26.6 million in proposed construction projects with the stroke of Gov. John Bel Edwards veto pen Wednesday.</p> <p>Twenty-nine projects were part of the 40 items struck from the state’s annual construction budget by Edwards using his line-item veto authority.</p>

A tractor-trailer traveling southbound on Interstate 15 slammed into the back of another tractor-trailer and Chevrolet pickup Tuesday night near Stoddard Wells Road after failing to yield to stopped traffic, according to a CHP news release. At the time of the collision, which authorities say occurred at approximately 11:57 p.m., traffic was at a standstill due to a full-freeway closure for construction of the D Street Bridge. As traffic was being routed off the freeway at Stoddard Wells Road, 52-year-old Mariano Valle, of Montclair, approached the stopped vehicles in a 2014 Freightliner tractor-trailer traveling at 60 mph. For unknown reasons,...

Retailers are facing a shipping squeeze, and the trucking industry just can't keep up. According to the American Trucking Associations, there's a shortage of roughly 50,000 truck drivers across the country. And it's hitting both businesses and consumers in the wallet. Companies are complaining about how the driver shortage is impacting their business. Meanwhile, the cost of convenient shipping is starting to catch up with consumers. Amazon recently hiked its Prime membership to $119 a year from $99 a year. The retail giant said one of the reasons for the price jump was increased shipping costs. But the driver shortage...

Traffic backs up virtually every day on Interstate 95 southbound where it crosses the Occoquan River entering Prince William County because five lanes are decreased to three. Prince William Supervisor Ruth Anderson, R-Occoquan, has proposed a solution: Build a reinforced shoulder lane along I-95 south from the Route 123 interchange at Occoquan to the Prince William Parkway. This will keep four lanes available. “Not only will this improve commute time, it will prevent frustration with having one of the worst bottlenecks in the nation,” Anderson said. The National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board is conducting an air quality analysis to...

With Metro still tackling safety and operational issues, and toll rates occasionally hitting $40 or more on the Interstate 66 express lanes inside the Capital Beltway, tolerable options for commuters in Northern Virginia seem hard to come by these days. Kalai Kandasamy wants to offer an alternative. The cybersecurity and information technology consultant developed a Sluglines app in 2016 that helps prospective riders and drivers coordinate trips, and he believes that establishing slug lines in the I-66 corridor could alleviate travel headaches for some workers. “Slugging fills up those empty seats, and it’s good for the environment,” Kandasamy said. “It’s...

The Maryland State Highway Administration has completed two major projects that officials said will make the drive to the beach much easier.Construction is complete on adding a fourth eastbound lane to the Severn River Bridge in Annapolis, which can be a major source of afternoon congestion. "We found three things that were adding to the traffic on that bridge. One was just a lot of traffic. Two was everyone who gets at the top of that bridge, they like to slow down and look at the Severn River at the beautiful view. And, three, these merge areas before and after...

COLUMBUS — A motorist accused of striking and killing a road construction worker from Barnesville while driving on Interstate 70 in Franklin County last year was sentenced to five years in prison after entering an Alford plea to aggravated vehicular homicide and operating a vehicle while under the influence. Edward Torres, 31, of South Solon, was sentenced to five years on the aggravated vehicular homicide charge and 180 days on the OVI charge with the sentences to be served concurrently for a total of five years in prison. Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Charles Schneider also suspended Torres’ driver’s...

The soggy spring and delays in obtaining the necessary environmental permits may push back the completion date of work to reconstruct Interstate 70 between Beau Street and the Route 519/Eighty Four interchanges. “We are behind schedule,” Scott Faieta, assistant construction engineer for the state Department of Transportation, said Tuesday. “We met last week with the contractor, and it may be necessary to push it back to summer of 2021. It was supposed to be done November 2020.” The contractor for the $117 million project is Lane Construction Co. The work includes widening the highway to three lanes in each direction...

WASHINGTON By Washington standards, it shouldn’t be that hard to get money for Interstate 73, a decades-in-the-making, $2 billion project to connect 75 miles of road from the North Carolina border to the tourist hub of South Carolina’s Myrtle Beach. But Rep. Tom Rice, R-S.C., the local congressman and the road’s key backer, is struggling to get the project going. He does have support from his state’s two U.S. senators. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., recently called the interstate the second most important economic priority for South Carolina behind dredging the Charleston Harbor. Al Simpson, a well-connected Washington lobbyist who was...

Getting from point A to point B should, theoretically, be a relatively simple task. But in order to travel, the transportation infrastructure needs to be in place and up to par. Across the state, major projects are underway to repair and update that infrastructure so that New Yorkers can get where they need to go – whether that’s through the air, over land or over water. Though some may be on track to be completed while others wallow in planning, here are five major projects underway that should make it easier for New Yorkers to get around.Gov. Mario M. Cuomo...

After a series of crashes on Interstate 81 in the Carlisle area in April, the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners Thursday approved a resolution that asks PennDOT to prioritize and expedite plans to widen the highway to three lanes in each direction across the county. Commissioners said the current design of the ramps and two-lanes of traffic no longer supports the number of vehicles traveling the interstate. “Interstate 81, along with the Pennsylvania Turnpike, brings tremendous economic opportunity. But the interstate also poses safety concerns as traffic volume increases and congestion worsens,” the board said in a joint statement. “In...

ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, Va. (WHSV) — Lawmakers are searching for a solution to traffic and accidents on Interstate 81. One bill introduced by Senator Mark Obenshain proposes conducting a study of the effects of adding tolls for long haul trucks. The money from the tolls would go toward improving the interstate through Virginia. Senate Bill 971 passed the Virginia Senate unanimously, passed the House on a 95-3 vote with an amendment by Del. Tony Wilt, and then was agreed upon by both chambers. On April 4, Governor Ralph Northam signed the bill into law. The Virginia Department of Transportation has reported...

HINSDALE — For the second time in just over a month, a tractor-trailer-type vehicle collided with a parked New York State Department of Transportation vehicle on Interstate 86. Both drivers involved in the two-vehicle accident were injured, said Hinsdale First Assistant Fire Chief Greg Church. The incident was reported at 11:11 a.m. Tuesday after a northbound box truck rear-ended a state DOT dump truck a few miles before Exit 27. “They were patching the road,” Church said of state DOT crew. “They had a truck with a lighted arrow and work zone signs up, but for some reason he didn’t...

Getting drivers more quickly from Interstate 95 to the Sawgrass Expressway will involve putting them on express lanes that dip below local roads for one mile, according to plans that were unveiled Tuesday. An estimated 45,000 vehicles now travel daily along the 2 1/2-mile stretch of Southwest 10th Street between the Sawgrass Expressway and I-95 in Deerfield Beach — which is more than it was designed for. Almost half of those vehicles would opt for these express lanes, rather than go through the current eight traffic lights along Southwest 10th Street, according to state transportation planners’ projections. By 2029, the...

After a crash that state police called chilling, the agency has issued a reminder about highway safety. Shortly after midnight on Tuesday, state police Troop G in Bridgeport and West Haven fire units and emergency medical services responded to a crash on Interstate 95 northbound near exit 43 in West Haven. The call reported a crash involving two tractor trailers. But when troopers arrived at the scene, they found a more serious crash and closed the highway. The crash involved four tractor trailers and a Toyota Corolla. “Troopers, firefighters and EMS immediately checked on the crash victims and, despite what...

What would it take to get you to work on the railroad? A little extra cash? How about a sign-on bonus of up to $25,000? That's what two major railroad companies are offering in an effort to recruit more workers in what The Wall Street Journal called "a historically tight labor market." The Journal said BNSF Railway, based in Fort Worth, Texas, and Union Pacific Corp. in Omaha, Nebraska, are filling jobs as the demand rises to ship more products across the western side of the country....

The next time you drive through a highway work zone, or past an accident scene or a disabled vehicle, think about Robert Gensimore. A highway foreman for PennDOT, he was struck by a car and killed last week while setting up flares to warn motorists about an accident on Interstate 99 near Altoona. Gensimore was 45. His funeral is this morning. He was like many of us. Married, two kids, star high-school athlete, active in his community as a volunteer firefighter. He was just doing his job when he died. About 90 PennDOT workers have been killed on the job...

Good news for travellers, the road distance between Delhi and Mumbai take very less time, thanks to the new project announced by the Central Government. Reportedly, the Union Road Transport and Highways Ministry is gearing up to build a super expressway to connect the two major cities of India, which would allow commuters to finish the 1,400 km long journey within 12 hours! According to news reports, the project will be wrapped up in 4 phases. Meanwhile, work has started on the first and last stretches of the expressway, i.e., between Delhi and Jaipur as well as Vadodara and...

Caltrans will widen striping and increase visibility on 1,027 lane miles of U.S. Highway 101 from the San Benito/Santa Clara County line to the Santa Barbara/Ventura County line, thanks to funding by Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017.“The wider and brighter striping will make it easier for all drivers and truckers to see the lane lines,” said Caltrans Director Laurie Berman. “The highly reflective striping will improve safety for road users, especially during rainy days. The six-inch striping will also take up more surface so it will be more durable and last longer,...

SEATTLE -- Bertha finished boring the path for a new tunnel under Seattle nearly one year ago. Since then, construction crews have finished installing a double-deck highway end-to-end inside the tunnel. That leaves crews to finish installing and testing the $3.2 billion tunnel's advanced operational and safety systems. So when will the tunnel open? How much will tolls cost? And what happens to the Alaskan Way Viaduct? When will the tunnel open and what happens to the viaduct? After the tunnel is finished, crews will close the Alaskan Way Viaduct for several weeks to realign the highway to the tunnel....