In This Issue

	Minn. Lawmakers Approve Gas Tax Increase
	O.C. Tollway Faces Road Blocks
	Tolls Bridge Funding Gap
	Transit System Can’t Disable Buses
	TxDOT Loses More Federal Money
	WSDOT Kicks Off ‘Biggest Construction Season in History’
	Indiana Governor Withdraws Toll Road Proposals
	Fl. Lawmakers Take a New Look at Roads
	Nebraska Adopts New Road Standards
	Alabama Senator Remembers Ray Bass
	DOT Head Named Chairman of Turnpike, S. Jersey Agencies

Minn. Lawmakers Approve Gas Tax Increase

ST. PAUL, Minnesota – The Minnesota House approved a ten-cent increase to the state’s 20 cent gasoline tax last weekend, what could be the first increase in almost 20 years and a major component of a substantial road and transit construction package. Gov. Tim Pawlenty has promised to veto any tax-raising bill, which is possible given the 83-46 vote would not be enough to overrule him. Lawmakers hope to work out the differences between their two bills, both of which contain ten-cent gas tax increases, at a House-Senate conference committee.

The Senate is three votes short of overriding Pawlenty’s forthcoming veto on the increases. Gov. Pawlenty rejected a transportation package that contained a tax increase two years ago. He has pushed funding the transportation projects through long-term borrowing, saying the interest on the debt is lower than inflation on project costs sustained in pay-as-you-go funding programs.

Five House Republicans voted in favor of the legislation; but not all of them were willing to override a Pawlenty veto. “Let’s find a way to have a solution to our transportation problems,” said Rep. Paul Kohls, R-Victoria. “Let’s work with Governor Pawlenty. Let’s not send Governor Pawlenty a bill that we absolutely know he’s going to veto. What a waste of time.”

O.C. Tollway Faces Road Blocks

California - The San Onofre State Beach tollway in Orange County, California faces many obstacles in the next three years before the Irvine-based Transportation Corridor Agencies can begin construction. The TCA has postponed the start of construction from 2008 to 2011 because it must still obtain approval from at least eight state and federal agencies for the 16-mile Foothill South toll road.

The $875 million tollway would stretch from Oso Parkway in Rancho Santa Margarita to I-5 at Basilone Road, south of San Clemente. Proponents of the plan say the highway is necessary to accommodate the population growth in the area and relieve traffic congestion from I-5, which is predicted to increase by 60% by 2025.

Another issue which may threaten the proposal would be if the biological opinion being prepared by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finds the project puts endangered species in jeopardy. TCA officials are concerned with the complexity of the approval process, because the agency’s financial staff estimates that the cost of the project will increase by $3 million for each month of delay after the original 2008 construction start date.

TCA Supervisor and boardmember Chris Norby said the tollway could use the support of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has remained neutral about the project, while the state parks commission is against it. “I would like him to come down here and say, ‘Let’s build it.’ His support would help.”

Tolls Bridge Funding Gap

Washington - Taxpayers in Oregon and Washington are wincing at the reality that tolls may be the answer to the multibillion new bridge planned for the Columbia River. The Columbia River Crossing task force guiding the process to find the $2 billion to $6 billion needed to fund the I-5 bridge project says that tolls have been at the forefront in the funding discussions.

Any tolls charged for crossing the bridge will be used only to repay bonds needed to build the bridge itself, not for expenses related to other parts of the project, such as mass transit, interchanges or river navigation improvements, according to Danielle Cogan, the Columbia River Crossing communications manager.

Eight out of nine Columbia River Bridges from Oregon to Washington have resulted in tolls. These fees were discontinued on all but two of the spans after the bonds used for building the bridges were paid off. Vancouver Mayor Royce Pollard said he likes the idea of tolls because people who don’t use the bridge won’t have to pay for it. “I don’t see how it can be built without tolls,” Pollard said. “Who’s going to pay for all this? This is the best example of a user fee you can find.”

Other major bridges in the country have toll charges as low as $1 for the Sunshine Skyway crossing Tampa Bay to $9 for the Verrazano Bridge, and $12 for the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel in Virginia.

Transit System Can’t Disable Buses

KANSAS CITY – The voter-approved light rail line proposed for Kansas City must find a means of funding that does not rely heavily on funds currently used to pay for the city’s bus system, according to a letter sent from the Federal Transit Administration to the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (ATA) last week.

“We’re going to have to show a financial ability to support light rail and the bus system,” said Kansas City ATA general manager Mark Huffer. “A system being built with the assumption that funding would come from bus operations won’t be considered favorably,” Kansas City can institute up to a one-cent sales tax to raise public transit funding, and the ATA can still ask voters for the available one-eighth of a penny to help offset any revenue-loss to light rail, said Huffer.

The light rail plan approved by voters diverted a three-eighth cent sales tax for buses set to expire in 2009 to light rail for 25 years. Without the sales tax, however, the ATA would lose nearly 40 percent of its $70 million annual budget beginning in 2009. City councilman Clay Chastain, who proposed the $975 million light rail plan, hoped to receive some funding for the project from the federal government. Competition for federal transit funds is fierce, with approximately five times as many requests for federal dollars as there are available, according to the Federal Transit Administration.

“The people are in the transit investment mood right now,” said Chastain. Area residents “recognize that we need a good, solid bus system to work with the light rail.”

Transit officials have to move cautiously as they manage revenues from multiple systems within their jurisdictions. Cross subsidies with bus revenues supporting light rail systems become problematic and generate social issues and take the agencies into realms of environmental justice where they don’t want to be. Using bus revenues generated by lower income riders to subsidize what is seen as a largely “white collar” ridership on light rail is a non-starter in almost any thought process. TW

TxDOT Loses More Federal Money

Texas - The Texas Department of Transportation has been ordered by the federal government to cut nearly $300 million from their budget. The cut comes after a strenuous year in 2006 when the agency lost $305 million earmarked for tourist, trail and beautification projects. The Texas Transportation Commission, which was sharply criticized for cutting the enhancement projects last year, met on Thursday to determine how to make the $288 million cut ordered by the Federal Highway Administration Wednesday.

The most recent cut is equivalent to 2.1 percent of Texas’ $13.8 billion in federal funding for 2006-2009 under the massive 2005 transportation bill approved by Congress. TxDOT is one of 49 other state agencies required to submit their plan for budget cuts to the FHWA by April 19.

TxDOT and the transportation commission are unlikely to pull much money from the $279 million planned for alleviating congestion and air pollution programs, because it pays for projects in the state’s metropolitan areas that are trying to avoid federal injunctions for air pollution. Transportation Commission Chairman Ric Williamson said that after last year’s cuts to enhancements, the upcoming reductions are likely going to come from concrete and asphalt. “I don’t see how we can avoid that,” he said.

WSDOT Kicks Off ‘Biggest Construction Season in History’

Washington – Washington DOT launched their “biggest construction season in history” this week, with almost 400 transportation projects in progress in the Puget Sound area. Doug MacDonald, Washington Transportation Secretary said crews would be “everywhere” during the warmer construction season, “in the suburbs, downtown, on mountain passes and at all three U.S./Canada border crossings.”

This year’s projects include replacing the expansion joints on I-5 between Spokane and I-90 in Seattle, adding lanes to I-405 in Kirkland, South Bellevue, and Renton, and building a flyover ramp from westbound SR 202 to westbound SR 520. Crews will also add HOV lanes on I-5 through downtown Tacoma and open the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge, as well as extensive interstate repaving throughout the area. Other work includes two new park and ride connection and transit stations, and improvements and expansions to roads at the U.S.-Canada border.

Officials said at a press conference in Seattle Monday that WSDOT traffic engineers also plan to study the express lane operations, check signal timing at dozens of major intersections, verify the effectiveness of ramp monitoring and construct traffic cameras on SR 9.

Indiana Governor Withdraws Toll Road Proposals

INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels contacted members of the Indiana General Assembly over the weekend to withdraw his suggestion for the Indiana Commerce Connector in central Indiana and for part of the proposed Illiana Expressway. Daniels suggested continuing to move forward on the Illiana concept west of Interstate 65. He said his decision comes from public opposition to the privately funded toll roads.

In his letter to state transportation officials and government leaders, he said that after the intense public discussion regarding his proposal to look into privately funded bypass roads in Northwest and Central Indiana; “we are far from the degree of consensus that is necessary before embarking on major public works projects of high local impact.”

He said that although he withdraws his suggestion that any action be taken on the connector or the expressway east of I-65, either of the ideas may benefit from further research, which he would welcome if any of the committees are so inclined. He said that “after legislative action to date, some forty public meetings, and lots of other public debate…The people of the affected areas have spoken clearly enough to persuade me that these ideas are, at best, premature.”

Fl. Lawmakers Take a New Look at Roads

TALLAHASSEE – Leaders in the Florida House of Representatives have embraced the notion that privatization is an innovative way to deal with a fast-growing state and $232 million transportation funding shortfall through 2012. Even though the House plan to possibly lease the Sunshine Skyway to a private consortium may not move forward this year, lawmakers are accepting the fact that privatization may be one of the strongest tools in combating the escalating construction costs and federal funding cuts.

One advocacy group has estimated that Florida needs an additional $23 billion over the next ten years to simply maintain its current highway congestion levels. Because legislative leaders appear unlikely to support any tax increases in the near future, Florida’s future may consist of more toll roads, some of which may be built by private companies, more bond issuances, and more user fees.

“When the average person complains about growth, most of the time, they’re complaining about being stuck in traffic,” said Senate Transportation Chairman Carey Baker, R-Eustis. In an effort to provide short-term relief to Florida’s transportation issues, lawmakers have agreed to dedicate almost $700 million in new funding to transportation projects in their preliminary budget.

Senate Majority Leader Daniel Webster, R-Winter Garden, a longtime legislative leader in transportation, said the key is to find a balance between the private industry’s desire to take over state-funded roads, and the state’s desire for the private industry to help pay for new roads. Senators say they may support privatization alternatives, such as allowing private companies to build roads, but then share the tolls with the state and eventually give the state ownership of the roads. Webster said another alternative would be allowing companies to add toll lanes onto existing roads, where motorists could pay an extra charge for a guaranteed faster commute.

Nebraska Adopts New Road Standards

LINCOLN, Nebraska – Nebraska is tightening its regulations for approving new road construction, in hopes of giving the state more pavement per tax dollar. The state Department of Roads agreed on proposals last Friday for new standards that will focus on maintaining current roads, then add lanes to I-80, then complete the four-lane expressway system.

Under the new standards, the department will approve fewer widening projects and build narrower shoulders on new roads. The recommendations require a two-lane road to have more than a projected 10,000 cars a day before it will be considered for four lanes. The old criteria only required 6,000.

Some commissioners worried that the new recommendations will drastically shift all the road dollars to urban areas because of the maintenance required for congested urban roads, and will harm the development in rural parts of Nebraska. But the Roads Department is responsible for dealing with maintenance and congestion issues, said commissioner John Kingsbury, of Norfolk, and the economic development as a policy issue should be addressed by the Legislature. “The old system worked pretty well,” Kingsbury said. “But it does not fit into the funding levels we have today.”

The new recommendations will be used by the department as it plans projects for the 2009 fiscal year and work undertaken after July 1, 2008.

Limited funding drives states to focus their attentions on areas with the most needs. Widening a road to four lanes may seem like the answer to economic development to many rural elected officials but it takes more than a road to spur development and vitality. States can’t ignore critical safety and maintenance needs on rural highways but the large congestion relief dollars will always go to the more urban areas of our nation. TW

Alabama Senator Remembers Ray Bass

MONTGOMERY, Alabama – Shortly following the formal announcement of the death of former Alabama Highway Director Ray Bass, Alabama state Senator Bobby Denton, who knew Bass for over 30 years spoke to the media about his memories of Mr. Bass. Bass served as chief of the Alabama Highway department for three of Gov. George Wallace’s four terms.

“During his service to the Department of Transportation, Bass initiated the Department’s maintenance management program and was instrumental in other innovations, including computer-aided drafting and design system, a global positioning system and a computerized cash forecasting system,” said Senator Denton, who was a Colbert County Commissioner before serving in the Senate.

“Among the projects developed during Bass’ service as director are the George C. Wallace Tunnel in Mobile, Mobile Bay Crossing, Mobile Delta Crossing, I-459 Bypass in Birmingham, I-565 spur connector in Huntsville, Warrior Bridge in Tuscaloosa and the Tennessee River Bridge in Guntersville.”

Denton said Bass was very honest, dependable, and he worked well with legislators in addressing issues they felt were important.

Ray Bass was a “fixture” on AASHTO’s Standing Committee on Highways long before I had the privilege of chairing that body. His matter of fact statements “of the obvious” earned him the respect of his colleagues and often kept the discussion on the mark. TW

DOT Head Named Chairman of Turnpike, S. Jersey Agencies

TRENTON, N.J. – New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine has appointed state transportation commissioner and NJ Transit Chairman Kris Kolluri as the chairman of the New Jersey Turnpike and South Jersey Transportation authorities. Kolluri has been serving as an ex-officio member of both toll-road authorities. “These agencies are still going to be operated as they (are) today,” Kolluri said. “But…with me sitting where I will sit, we will have a centralized view of what the governor expects to see from transportation.”

A transportation expert in New Jersey praised the move as a smart step in giving the governor’s administration more control over the independent authorities that have been gradually losing their autonomy over the years. “There’s no reason in modern New Jersey that these authorities should have policies that are dramatically different from those that have evolved from the New Jersey Department of Transportation or New Jersey Transit,” said Martin E. Robins of the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers University.

Critics of the appointment in the general assembly questioned whether it gives Kolluri too much responsibility, and suggested the move may be a precursor to leasing the state’s toll roads.