NH DOT Head Seeks Toll Increase

CONCORD – The New Hampshire Department of Transportation Commissioner is proposing a toll increase for later this year to help pay for projects such as widening I-93. In a meeting to review the state’s 10-year Transportation Plan, Commissioner Christopher Clement told a legislative committee this week that revenue is short $1.33 billion.

“If we don’t change the paradigm of investment, we will have huge numbers,” Clement said.

Clement said one way to find more revenue for “unfunded needs” is a toll hike. The I-93 widening from Exit 3 to Manchester needs an additional $250 million to complete, in addition to the $90 million needed to widen the interstate from Bow to Concord. The transportation chief said he plans to request the toll increase from the governor and Executive Council for a toll increase in the fall.

DOT officials said that in addition to the toll hike, the state needs to increase the gas tax and reinstate the $30 registration surcharge that was repealed last year.

Local Buying for Transportation Partnerships

Transportation projects using local products such as Pennsylvania steel will be given preference under an amendment approved this week by House legislators. The amendment is part of a bill allowing public-private financing for state road projects.

House lawmakers voted 107-86 to pass the amendment proposed by Rep. Steven Santarsiero, which will also give priority to projects using American materials and those proposed by Pennsylvania- or U.S.-based companies.

Two other amendments proposed by Santarsiero to encourage American partners in such projects were rejected by lawmakers. One would require developers to use a minimum of 51 percent American financing for their project, which Santarsuiero said was intended “to keep some control over the project in the United States.” The other one rejected would have required a majority of American ownership of a project’s private-sector partner.

I always urge caution on the subject of legislative requirements for P3 projects. More often than not they don’t accomplish the intended design and serve only to stifle opportunity. The same holds true for overlegislating design-build or CMGC or CMAR processes. TW

Gov. Offers Locals a Gas Tax Sweetener

The governor of Maryland proposed a significant incentive for local governments in an effort to ensure support of his proposal to apply the state’s 6 percent sales tax to gasoline. The sweetener, introduced in the bill Tuesday, would partially restore local transportation funding that was largely cut off during the recession, to roughly triple the current aid for counties, Baltimore city and smaller municipalities for road projects.

In legislation announced two weeks ago, Gov. Martin O’Malley said he wants to raise $613 million annually for transportation projects by extending the sales tax on gasoline over three years. Over the three years, the gas would be increased by increments of 2 percent each year, to reach 6 percent in the third year. The O’Malley administration included a “braking mechanism” in the bill, which would delay the phased-in increase if gas prices spike.

At the current cost of gasoline, the governor’s legislation would add 18 cents per gallon once fully implemented. The proposal is expected to be a difficult one to pass by lawmakers in Annapolis.

The funding needs for state DOTs is nothing short of alarming. That said, a huge untold story is the fact that cities, towns and counties have the same or larger funding challenges as well. They will receive little relief even if a new highway bill passes some day. It’s another dimension of this problem that cannot be ignored. TW

Washington Senate Passes Columbia River Crossing Toll Bill

OLYMPIA – Washington Senators approved a bill Tuesday authorizing tolling of the I-5 Bridge with a vote of 33-15. Toll revenue would go toward constructing a replacement bridge between Portland and Vancouver, and is expected to provide about one-third of the funds needed for the project, according to the Department of Transportation. Toll rates will be determined through negotiations between Washington and Oregon’s transportation commissions.

Transportation officials in the two states estimate the project will cost up to $3.5 billion, one-third of which will come from state appropriations. The bill has moved onto the House, where Rep. Jim Moeller, D-Vancouver, has proposed his own toll bill for the Columbia River Crossing project.

NCDOT holds hearings for Proposed I-95 Tolls

LUMBERTON – Transportation officials in North Carolina are holding public hearings this month to discuss plans for $4.4 billion in construction projects on I-95 which the agency hopes to pay for with toll collection. The improvements would begin in 2016 and toll collection would begin three years later.

The concept of tolling the interstate is gaining momentum in North Carolina, as well as in Virginia and Missouri with the three states’ participation in a federal program which allows states to toll federal interstates if the toll revenue goes toward improvements on that highway.

NC DOT officials say the 182 miles of I-95 in their state badly need repair. Tolling the stretches of the interstate in northeastern states has taken place for years, but has only recently begun to be seriously considered in states south of Maryland.