In This Issue

	Atlanta Business Leaders Support Traffic Plan
	Spanish Company Recommended for Toll Road
	Delta Regional Authority Unveils $18.5B Highway Plan
	Viaduct Campaign Heats Up
	Va. Legislature Grudgingly OKs Transportation Bill
	Turnpike Exemption Bill Considered
	Plan to Allow Mexican Trucks into U.S. Draws Criticism
	GA DOT Launches Major Efficiency Review

Atlanta Business Leaders Support Traffic Plan

ATLANTA – Business leaders in Georgia are lining up in support of a plan which would permit several counties to impose taxes to raise funding for more roads, highways and other infrastructure improvements. The local leaders told lawmakers at a House tax subcommittee meeting that the measure, House Bill 434 would enable counties to relieve the congestion on their roads without waiting for the state DOT to find funding.

“There is no issue of more interest and more concern of business leaders all over metro Atlanta than traffic,” said Sam Williams, president of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. “The business community has never been more unified over addressing a problem and working with legislators for a solution.”

The proposal would make it possible for two or more counties to work together and propose new taxes to pay for transportation projects in their jurisdictions. The 13 metro Atlanta counties would also be required to come up with a wish list of projects, after which each county could opt out if they so desire.

Supporters say the measure offers counties the flexibility to choose whether to improve their infrastructure themselves by letting residents vote on road-building plans through a referendum.

“This is not just a metro Atlanta issue. And the lack of transportation funding isn’t just a metro Atlanta issue,” said Scott MacGregor, a vice president of the Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce. “It’s a quality of life issue.”

Spanish Company Recommended for Toll Road

MCKINNEY, Texas – A Spanish transportation corporation hired to construct the Trans-Texas Corridor received a key recommendation by the state DOT Wednesday to convert state Highway 121 into a toll road in Denton and Collin counties. Cintra Concesiones de Infrastructuras de Transporte was recommended by TxDOT officials to be the developer of the toll road at a meeting of the Texas Transportation Commission.

If the proposal is accepted by the commission, Cintra would pay $2.8 billion to the Regional Transportation Council for the privilege of operating and collecting tolls along the route for the next 50 years. The council is a North Texas group in charge of transportation planning in the area.

“At a time when budgets are stretched thin to meet every transportation need in North Texas, this project can be a valuable source of income to pay for other projects needed in this county,” said Joe Jaynes, Collin County Commissioner.

Cintra-Zachry, a consortium of San Antonio-based Zachry Construction and Spain-based Cintra, is contracted to build Gov. Rick Perry’s Trans-Texas Corridor, a toll road owned by the state. Cintra-Zachry will operate and collect tolls on the corridor.

Delta Regional Authority Unveils $18.5B Highway Plan

WASHINGTON – The Delta Regional Authority unveiled its $18.5 billion Delta Development Highway System plan Monday to improve nearly four-thousand miles of highways in eight states. The DRA developed the highway plan using input from transportation executives and local organizations.

The DRA is a federal-state partnership that serves 240 counties and parishes in parts of Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee. The program allows cash-strapped cities and counties to leverage money from other agencies. In February 2005, the DRA board, consisting of governors from the eight states, voted to make transportation one of the agency’s three major policy development areas along with health care and information technology. The group then worked for 18 month to agree on criteria and priorities.

“This is not a study,” said Pete Johnson, the DRA federal co-chairman appointed by President Bush. “It’s a plan. This is the first year of a rolling 20-year plan.” Johnson estimated that the completed Delta Development Highway System would yield nearly $3.5 billion annually in the form of higher-paying jobs and improved local economies.

If approved by Congress, among the highway portions covered by the plan would be I-69 in Northern Mississippi, which is planned to eventually stretch from Indianapolis through most of the Delta states and become a continuous link between Canada and Mexico. Another element would connect I-55 at Batesville, Mississippi with Brinkley, Arkansas to divert some through-traffic around the crowded Memphis interstates.

Viaduct Campaign Heats Up

Washington - As the March 13 voting day approaches, campaigns for the Viaduct and Tunnel are increasing the pressure on Seattle-area voters. Ballots are in the mail for the advisory vote to let state and city officials know whether residents prefer a new, $2.8 billion elevated highway, or a $3.4 billion four-lane tunnel to replace the aging Alaskan Way Viaduct.

As campaigners have taken to the streets, the newspapers, and television advertising, it is yet unclear where the $1 million public special election measure will lead. While supporters of both the tunnel and the viaduct agree that voters need to provide direction to disperse the political gridlock enveloping the issue, the results of the election will not be binding. Voters will have the option of voting yes or no on both choices, and it is possible they will reject both.

Governor Christine Gregoire and the Washington Department of Transportation agree that even if the tunnel option passes, the current four-lane design, using shoulders for traffic during peak travel times, would not be safe and would not carry the amount of traffic predicted to head through the corridor in coming decades.

House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, opposes the tunnel, while Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels supports the tunnel. Both say a street level boulevard is a good fallback option; however Gregoire reported last week that the replacing the Viaduct with the surface option would choke the city’s traffic so badly that rush hour on I-5 would increase by 2 hours every day.

No Tunnel Alliance co-chairman Gene Hoglund said if there is a close vote or voters reject both options, the state or city “can use it any way they want” to push one replacement or the other. “Do I think this is going to be over after the election?” asked Kelly Evans, manager of the Not Another Elevated Viaduct Campaign. “Probably not.”

Va. Legislature Grudgingly OKs Transportation Bill

RICHMOND - In the final hours of Virginia’s intense 2007 election-year General Assembly, a Republican transportation passage was sent to Gov. Tim Kaine after narrowly making it through the Senate and with a landslide in the House. However, Kaine said he plans to make big changes to billion House Bill 3202, claiming it does little for areas outside of Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, and requires pulling too much funding from education, public safety, and social services.

“There remain some very, very serious problems with this bill,” said Kaine immediately after the two houses adjourned. “I’m going to make some very significant changes to the bill” in the coming weeks, he said.

Opponents in the House and Senate argued that the $2.5 billion in bonds authorized by the bill will have an insignificant impact on the $100 billion backlog of transportation projects. The $2.5 billion in bonds is to be issued through 2016, and is $500 million more than the debt the previous House-backed plan was considering.

The plan also calls for revenue from the state’s general fund to be used to pay off transportation debt. Other proposed sources of funding in the “no tax pledge” include a local car rental impact fee, a $10 increase in vehicle registration fees, and additional fees for bad drivers to pay for maintenance and other ongoing transportation needs. The proposal would also give designated localities in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads the authority to increase taxes and fees for urgent transportation projects in their region.

The coalition voted 23-17 last week to dismiss a House-passed transportation plan that included $2 billion in bonds but allotted $250 million directly to transportation. “The plan that you have here today is even worse,” said Senate Democratic Leader Richard L. Saslaw because the new plan call for $170 million to $184 million annually to service the $2.5 billion in bonds.

Turnpike Exemption Bill Considered

Maine - New legislation proposed in Augusta, Maine would allow residents with cancer and other serious medical conditions to travel to their treatments free of charge on the Maine Turnpike. Another proposal would make emergency vehicles exempt from paying tolls, regardless of whether the turnpike trip was for emergency purposes.

Maine Turnpike Authority officials say the bills are similar to others proposed every session to make groups such as legislators and veterans exempt, and they plan to oppose the measures. The turnpike authority says that while the bills are well-meaning, they regularly oppose such bills because they would violate the legal contract the authority has with investors who own turnpike bonds. Such bonds allow for turnpike projects like the proposed $150 million widening and renovation of a 9-mile section between Scarborough and Falmouth that is planned to begin in 2010.

“We know its well-intentioned people trying to do a good thing,” said turnpike authority spokesman Dan Paradee. But he said the contract the authority has with investors states that the turnpike cannot charge different tolls based on “the status or the character of the persons in the vehicles.” Conrad Welzel, head of government relations for the turnpike authority, said that tolls must be closely regulated because “the money that we borrow is based on future toll revenues.”

This is always a delicate issue. In the end the authority is right and they have to preserve the contractual relationship with their investors. I remember when there was a national movement to name I-10 the Pearl Harbor Survivors Highway. One day I was at the capital testifying about why we didn’t name highways. Once I saw the veterans come in with their uniforms and medals I knew how the bill was going to go. The rest is history. TW

Plan to Allow Mexican Trucks into U.S. Draws Criticism

WASHINGTON - The Bush Administration drew sharp criticism Friday from labor leaders, safety advocates, and members of Congress after announcing a plan that would allow 100 Mexican trucking companies to haul freight further into the United States than previously allowed. U.S. inspectors would watch over Mexican trucking companies, which, according to the pilot project, would permit the truck companies to travel throughout the United States. No hazardous cargo would be allowed, and the truckers’ employers must by insured by companies licensed in the U.S.

Under current regulations, trucks from each country can only travel 20 miles into the other to deliver their shipments. Opponents of the new program said Mexico had substandard trucks and low-paid drivers that would threaten national security, endanger motorists, and cost thousands of jobs. Deborah Hersman, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, was concerned about how the U.S. could afford to send inspectors to Mexico when such a tiny percentage of American truck companies were inspected each year.

Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters offered details of the plan Friday, saying, “This program will make trade with Mexico easier and keep our roads safe at the same time.” Mexican truckers are insistent that their equipment meets U.S. standards. The Transportation Department reports that 240 federal and 300 state government employees work with Mexican carrier issues.

The 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement promised access to all United States Highways by 2000, and the same for American carriers in Mexico. Until now, lawsuits and disagreements have stalled that portion of Nafta.

GA DOT Launches Major Efficiency Review

ATLANTA – Georgia Transportation Board Chairman Mike Evans announced a comprehensive efficiency review of Georgia DOT’s core business procedures and practices, designed to make the Department “the absolute best DOT in America.” The Monitor Group, of Cambridge, MA, has been hired to conduct the study, the first such external examination of any department in Georgia state government.

“My goal is to make the Department of Transportation the best managed, most effective DOT in the country,” Evans vowed. He noted that Georgia DOT is faced with extraordinary funding challenges and challenges in delivering congestion mitigation and highway improvement projects to the people of Georgia in an efficient and timely manner. “We must do better in putting projects into service,” Evans said. “The public demands it and I demand it.”

A goal of the study will be to see which transportation departments in the country are having the most success in addressing these challenges; how they are meeting them; what lessons they have learned; and what steps Georgia DOT needs to take to improve its performance, Evans added.

The Monitor Group, who was required to commit not to seek any other Department consulting work for the next four years to ensure the independence of the evaluation, will spend the next several months studying the practices of the Georgia DOT. The leadership, management practices and processes and asset management functions of the agency will be analyzed, as well as those of highly-regarded state transportation departments which could serve as “best practices” models for Georgia.