Free Republic

Opposition to tolling the future Interstate 10 Mobile River Bridge and the Wallace Tunnel dominated the public comments during Tuesday’s hearing into the massive $2.1 billion project. From local politicians to business owners, the message to the Alabama Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration was clear: A $3 to $6 toll will place enormous burdens on drivers and workers in Mobile and Baldwin counties, and it won’t fly with the rest of the public either. “It’s a huge expense,” said Roger Nelson of Daphne, who commutes daily to work to downtown Mobile. “It will be passed on.” Said...

Toll lane plans for parts of the Capital Beltway and Interstate 270 are set to move forward next week, including plans for improvements to the American Legion Bridge. Maryland’s Board of Public Works — Gov. Larry Hogan, Treasurer Nancy Kopp and Comptroller Peter Franchot — is set to formally designate the planned toll lanes as a public-private partnership on May 8 and to support plans for separate phases of construction. Once the public-private partnership designation is approved, the state expects to quickly issue a request for qualifications from private companies so that a short list of the private firms or...

Shortly after moving to northern Brazoria County, Evan Moskowitz noticed there was something odd about Texas 288. “I mean, it’s huge,” Moskowitz said, noting the four-lane highway’s enormous grass median and wide shoulders. “You could fit two freeways there.” Pretty soon, there will be, a nod to explosive growth in southern Harris and northern Brazoria counties and the constant need for faster trips into key workforce centers, including the Texas Medical Center. Crews are in the home stretch of construction of two toll lanes in each direction from Interstate 69 to the Brazoria County line — more than 10 miles...

In August 2018, the Colorado Department of Transportation broke ground on Central 70, a massive five-year (at minimum) project intended to reimagine and revitalize a stretch of Interstate 70 through Denver — and construction on the I-270 flyover to eastbound I-70 will result in a large stretch of the highway being closed at 10 p.m. tonight and staying that way for the entire weekend. The timing of this temporary shutdown is noteworthy, given that it follows in the wake of a new national report that rips Central 70 and argues that rather than expanding the existing roadway, CDOT should tear...

Washington, D.C. is the nation’s capital — and its suburbs could be moving towards becoming the nation’s capital of privately owned express toll lanes. The Virginia side of the Potomac has placed a big bet on such roadways, with 14 miles of pay lanes in the middle of the region’s famous Beltway, reversible toll lanes along 29 miles of I-95, and construction under way on three more highway segments. Last September, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced an even more ambitious plan for his side of the river, covering 77 miles of the Beltway and I-270. If these plans go forward,...

After roaming around and studying downtown for a week, the Urban Land Institute’s advisory services panel provided Atlanta leaders with recommendations on how to move forward with the colossal proposed “Stitch” project. On Friday, ULI, which conducts land use research for cities around the globe, suggested the time is now to partner with local elected officials and philanthropic organizations to get the ball rolling on fundraising efforts for the potentially 14-acre project that would install a massive park and new construction above the Downtown Connector. But in order to be competitive for public and private funding—panelists expect the highway-capping project...

Dive Brief: Three workers were injured Feb. 15 while working on the $2.3 billion, 21-mile I-4 Ultimate project in Orlando, Florida, the Orlando Sentinel reported. The three individuals, all reportedly employees of general contractor SGL (Skanska, Granite and Lane) Constructors, sustained minor injuries when they fell 15 feet from an elevated platform while pouring concrete. Emergency responders told WFTV 9 that the trio fell after a section of formwork gave way. SGL Constructors told WFTV that work was halted temporarily at similar platforms along the project so that they could be inspected. Construction on the I-4 project had restarted just...

HARTFORD — Senate Republicans outlined a list of proposals on Wednesday that would expand public-private partnerships, create new tax incentives – and possibly add to Connecticut’s coffers. The lawmakers proposed several bills that aim to lower government costs by implementing public-private partnerships with state human services agencies. State Sen. Kevin Kelly, R-Stratford, said private providers can provide more and better quality services than the public sector, noting residents are relying on a system that is antiquated and doesn’t meet current technological or consumer demands. One measure would create those partnerships for the delivery of human services to low-income residents, elderly...

Interstate 4’s overhaul will run eight months beyond a scheduled finish in early 2021 and $100 million over a $2.3 billion budget, according to a recent claim by the builder. Neither the builder, I-4 Mobility Partners, nor the state Department of Transportation previously had publicly disclosed a potential change in schedule or budget. Details first emerged from Moody’s Investors Service, with reports on I-4 Mobility’s financial footing. The state Department of Transportation issued a statement on Thursday, emphasizing that the I-4 Mobility Partners claim remains undetermined. “While the claim is being reviewed, construction activities are continuing and the contractor is...

Toll revenue would pay for only 17 percent of a new bridge across the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge, a top state official said Tuesday. Eric Kalivoda, deputy secretary for the state Department of Transportation and Development, made the comment during the first meeting of a panel seeking ways to finance a new bridge, which would cost about $1 billion. The seven-member panel features leaders of five parishes in the Baton Rouge area, including East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome. Kalivoda's comments reinforced what officials knew coming in — paying for a new bridge is a huge financial...

NORTH RICHLAND HILLS - Every day on her drive home from work, Kali Roberts is taken aback by the angry pile of motorists who converge on westbound Loop 820 in North Richland Hills. Traffic coming from Texas 121/183 “Airport Freeway” must squeeze from four to two lanes, between Boulevard 26 and Rufe Snow Drive, causing gridlock that persists not only during rush hour periods but most of the day. Meanwhile, as drivers on the nearby TEXPress lanes whiz by at 75 mph, motorists in the toll-free lanes crawl at about 10 mph and cut each other off, including many who...

More than 60 years ago, the interstate highway system was envisioned to connect the country from coast to coast. Initially, a modest 3-cents-per-gallon tax on gasoline and diesel fuel was established and wholly dedicated to the construction and maintenance of roads and bridges. The vision became reality and exceeded expectations, connecting communities, making travel easier, and improving the flow of commerce. A short time later, the gasoline and diesel tax was increased to 4 cents per gallon—where it stayed until 1983, when it was doubled. Unfortunately, this also marked the point in which highway taxes began to be diverted to...

Call it the $350 million question. Over the next six weeks, the Pennsylvania Turnpike will try to decide whether to rehabilitate its five sets of tunnels one at a time over 10 to 15 years or enter into a public-private partnership with one firm that would do all of the work in five to six years and be responsible for maintenance for about 30 years. And the $350 million is key because a large part of that money would be the upfront cost if the agency decides to pursue a partnership, said Brad Heigel, the turnpike’s chief engineer. Mr. Heigel...

With more than a year left before construction starts, the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) has begun demolition work for the proposed Mobile River bridge and Bayway project. The agency is currently in the process of tearing down nine buildings throughout the project site just south of downtown near Virginia Street, where the bridge will be footed. “Because the final design is in a preliminary phase, we don’t have exact locations on where the footings are going to be … ,” ALDOT spokeswoman Allison Gregg said. Some of the buildings were vacant before ALDOT acquired them, other owners and tenants...

WASHINGTON — Toll lanes around the Capital Beltway and I-270 in Maryland could be built in several separate phases and even operated by different companies under the latest plans released to industry insiders. It indicates Beltway construction could last for years. The first phase would include fixes for the Legion Bridge.A new document sent last week ahead of the next forum for private companies that could design, build and operate the lanes said that while Maryland eventually plans more than 70 miles of toll lanes from Frederick to Bethesda and from the Legion Bridge to near Oxon Hill, building out...

WASHINGTON — Some rush-hour commutes on Interstate 95 have been better since a 2-mile extension of the 95 Express Lanes opened to reduce backups in the regular and toll lanes at the original southern merge, but others have been slower, according to analyses by VDOT and the Express Lanes’ operator.Transurban said average afternoon rush hour tolls for trips from anywhere in the lanes that end at or south of Garrisonville dropped by 8.2 percent — from $21.52 between Nov. 1, 2016, and Sept. 30, 2017, to $19.76 in the period between Nov. 1, 2017, and Sept. 30, 2018.The one-lane extension...

Maryland voters narrowly oppose adding express toll lanes to widen three of the state’s most congested highways, a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll finds, highlighting public skepticism about one of Gov. Larry Hogan’s signature transportation plans. The centerpiece of the Republican governor’s proposal — a $9 billion project to add four lanes apiece to the Capital Beltway, Interstate 270 and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway — is even opposed by voters in the Washington suburbs, whom the plan is supposed to help. More than half of voters in the D.C. suburbs prefer to invest in public transit rather than building more roads....

North Carolina officials are trying to figure out how to unwind parts or all of a 2014 public-private partnership that is building managed toll lanes on a Charlotte-area highway.Ever since the ink dried on North Carolina’s first transportation P3 contract, the plan to relieve severe congestion in the Charlotte region has generated controversy.Public opposition remains just as fierce today to the project that will add express lanes on Interstate 77, even though more than one report says the deal with I-77 Mobility Partners LLC, a consortium led by Cintra Infraestructuras S.A., was properly authorized and permitted.The 26-mile-long project is designed...

The cost to construct the five-mile extension of the Gilcrease Expressway and the toll charged to motorists using it will be higher than initially reported, the executive director of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority said Thursday.Tim Gatz told a group of local officials gathered in Tulsa for an update on the project that the roadway is now estimated to cost approximately $330 million to $340 million, or about 10 percent more than originally thought.Late last year, Gatz told the same working group that motorists driving private vehicles could expect to pay a toll of $1 to $1.50. The toll is now...

LAPORTE — Law enforcement in LaPorte County is preparing for the possibility of an already-congested and dangerous U.S. 20 being overrun with more semi-trucks as drivers avoid the 35 percent cost increase of traveling the Indiana Toll Road. Much of that stretch of highway being down to one lane in each direction for resurfacing adds to the concerns. LaPorte County Sheriff John Boyd said he’s reached out to Indiana State Police to help patrol U.S. 20 if an increase in truck traffic becomes too much for his staff to handle alone. “We’re going to prepare for it,” Boyd said. “We’re...