Tag: roads and bridges: Page 2

Roadbuilding

$163 billion needed annually to fix aging surface transportation system

It’s being estimated that an investment of $163 billion per year is needed in order to fix the nation’s deteriorating surface transportation system, according to the “2015 Bottom Line Report” on transportation investment needs, released by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and the American Public Transportation Association. Currently only $83 billion […]

December 9, 2014

Roadbuilding

Report: Just 6 Percent of 2013 federal-aid funding went into new roads & bridges

States used just under six percent of the contract authority received on construction projects to build new roads or bridges, according to a detailed breakdown of 2013 federal highway funding obligations by the Government Accountability Office. The largest portion of the federal-aid went into the existing system. Out of $41 billion in federal-aid highway contract authority states had […]

November 17, 2014

Roadbuilding

N.J. transportation commissioner calls for tax hike

New Jersey transportation commissioner Jamie Fox is calling for a tax hike to help fix the state’s roads and bridges. The state’s transportation trust fund is projected to run out of money for new projects next year. The trust fund is used to pay for the majority of the state’s road, bridge and rail projects. Currently […]

October 27, 2014

Roadbuilding

Highway construction causes problems for firefighters

Highway construction typically poses an inconvenience for everyone who has to drive through it. It can cause traffic jams and detours which makes it difficult for anyone working on a tight schedule. For firefighters, highway construction can be much more than an inconvenience – it can cause an emergency situation. When an 18-wheeler carrying 12-hundred […]

September 9, 2014

Roadbuilding

Firefighters plea for better roads and bridges

The Missouri State Council of Fire Fighters are pleading with state officials to focus on the safety of state’s transportation system. The organization, which represents over 6,000 professional firefighters across the state, has released an open letter to the state. “There are 20,000 miles of bridges and highway crossings in Missouri without shoulders,” Eric Latimer, 4th […]

August 29, 2014

Roadbuilding

Jason Carter pushing for transportation sales tax

Democrat Jason Carter is reviving the idea of a regional sales tax for transportation infrastructure improvements in Georgia. In 2012 Carter and Gov. Nathan Deal backed a sales tax increase for transportation, known as the T-SPLOST, but failed in most parts of the state despite support from a big part of the business community and many political […]

August 21, 2014

Business

Bursting bubble of big tobacco financing gives glimpse of road building’s future without a gas tax increase

Last week I wrote about how states that engage in public-private partnerships (P3s) and other types of debt and bond financing would create short term gains and long term disaster for the road building industry. This weekend I read an article on ProPublica, an independent journalism site, that shows how the exact same thing—only using […]

August 12, 2014

Business

Toll roads, P3s and creative financing will bring short-term gain, long-term disaster for the road building industry

For the last half-century gas and diesel taxes collected at the pump have been the primary source of funding for almost all our highway infrastructure. But Congress hasn’t  increased the gas tax or adjusted it for inflation since 1992. Anti-tax advocates claim this as a victory, but it’s not. With the highway trust fund running […]

August 1, 2014

Business

CBO: Highway Trust Fund should fulfill obligations through 2014

According to the latest forecast from the Congressional Budget Office, the Highway Trust Fund will have insufficient revenues by the end of 2015, but should be able to fulfill its obligations through 2014. At the beginning of this year, the HTF held $10 billion and the CBO forecast expects that amount to dwindle by half […]

February 11, 2013

Roadbuilding

$600 million O.C. bridges program kicks off

The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) on Oct. 19 kicked off a nearly $600 million program that will separate street traffic from trains at seven locations in north Orange County. Known as the O.C. Bridges, the projects will eliminate the need for drivers to waste time idling at rail crossings, waiting for trains to pass. […]

October 19, 2011

Roadbuilding

$600 million O.C. bridges program kicks off

The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) on Oct. 19 kicked off a nearly $600 million program that will separate street traffic from trains at seven locations in north Orange County. Known as the O.C. Bridges, the projects will eliminate the need for drivers to waste time idling at rail crossings, waiting for trains to pass. […]

October 19, 2011

Safety

$600 million O.C. bridges program kicks off

The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) on Oct. 19 kicked off a nearly $600 million program that will separate street traffic from trains at seven locations in north Orange County. Known as the O.C. Bridges, the projects will eliminate the need for drivers to waste time idling at rail crossings, waiting for trains to pass. […]

October 19, 2011