Free Republic

LOWER SALFORD — There are times when Cassel Road should be closed down because of the mud on the road from the work to widen the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, Lower Salford Township Board of Supervisors member Phil Heilman said at the board's Nov. 21 morning work session. He drove on the road on a recent day, he said. "It was solid mud," he said. Heilman said he was driving behind another vehicle. "His car was chocolate, just like mine," Heilman said. "We gotta keep an eye on that." Police Chief Tom Medwid said officers are checking on...

The Utah Transportation Commission on Friday approved spending an extra $38 million to cover rising costs for two major upcoming highway projects — on Interstate 15 and Bangerter Highway in Salt Lake County. The increased expenses are caused in part by rising prices to buy and demolish homes and businesses to clear new rights of way. That includes an extra $23 million for a project to convert three more intersections on Bangerter Highway into freeway-like interchanges at 6200 South, 10400 South and 12600 South. Construction on those projects is scheduled to begin in 2020, but purchasing the needed rights of...

WINCHESTER — The Frederick County Transportation Committee on Monday expressed concerns that the county may not get the Interstate 81 improvements it needs to reduce traffic congestion and accidents. The Office of Intermodal Planning and Investment, the Virginia Department of Transportation and the Department of Rail and Public Transportation are studying the entire length of the I-81 corridor in the Virginia, as directed by the General Assembly, to identify changes that will reduce traffic backups and crashes as well as find the funding to make those changes. The I-81 study team identified 105 projects — valued at $4.25 billion —...

The Illinois Tollway is examining the possibility of embedding equipment into I-294 that would charge electric vehicles as they drive along the road. The agency is at the start of a $4 billion project to rebuild and widen a 22-mile stretch of I-294, also known as the Tri-State. As part of the project, the Tollway wants to add infrastructure to charge electric vehicles. Off the highway, that could include both conventional charging stations and “super-charger” stations that power up electric cars and trucks more quickly. The agency also is studying “smart-powered lanes,” a type of technology being tried in Sweden...

WASHINGTON — About two years ago, during the last big debate over Interstate 66 rush-hour tolls for solo drivers, there was a lot of talk about $17 round-trip tolls. Virginia’s transportation secretary said this week that the tolls drivers have seen inside the Beltway so far remain in line with those projections. New data the Virginia Department of Transportation provided Thursday from the first day of tolls on Monday morning show the average morning toll for drivers who paid with an E-ZPass, or who will get automated violation notices in the mail, was $10.70, while the average afternoon toll paid...

Amid a chorus of support from gridlock-weary drivers and the construction industry, Illinois tollway directors approved widening the Central Tri-State Tollway (I-294) Thursday. Officials promised no toll increases but about $120 million for the $4 billion project will come from new fees to be imposed on I-PASS holders when they don't use transponders. A concept plan includes extra lanes, a "Flex Lane" for express buses, and highway interchange improvements at bottlenecks between Rosemont and Oak Lawn. "This is a first step," Chairman Robert Schilerstrom said. "We'll be reaching out to the communities. We're very interested in listening to their input...

Rebuilding and widening the mammoth Central Tri-State Tollway (I-294) is complicated enough given it's the system's most-used road, with up to 185,000 cars and trucks clogging it daily.Throw in a tangle of towns where officials either hate or love the project, plus churn on the tollway board, and the planned redo gets even gnarlier. The Illinois tollway intends to fix the road between 95th Street in the South Suburbs and Balmoral Avenue in Rosemont. There's no final design or budget yet, but a decision is expected soon.Improvements likely could include extra lanes and new interchanges -- exciting news for anyone...

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan came to Hagerstown Thursday bearing gifts, announcing the start of a $105 million project to widen Interstate 81. In partnership with West Virginia, the first phase of construction of the long-sought project, which recently got under way, will expand the heavily traveled interstate to six lanes from U.S. 11 in West Virginia to Md. 63 near Williamsport. "These improvements to I-81 are critical infrastructure investments that will help citizens here in Washington County, across Western Maryland and all across our state go about their daily lives in a faster, more efficient and safer manner," Hogan said...

WASHINGTON, April 26 - In a widening of the inquiry into John R. Bolton's nomination to be ambassador to the United Nations, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee intends to conduct formal interviews in the next 10 days with as many as two dozen people, Congressional officials said Tuesday. Those to be interviewed include a former deputy director of central intelligence and a former assistant secretary of state. The two officials, John E. McLaughlin and John S. Wolf respectively, have not spoken publicly about Mr. Bolton's nomination, but both have been described by others as having clashed with him on personnel...

Sacramento -- California campaign-finance regulators are investigating whether Secretary of State Kevin Shelley illegally accepted a political donation in his government office from a contributor seeking help with a tax problem, The Chronicle has learned. Investigators from the state Fair Political Practices Commission have met with at least one potential witness in the case, seeking details about a meeting in June 2003 between Shelley and the donor, and about how the campaign check was delivered, according to a person who was questioned. "They were clearly trying to dot their i's and cross their t's," said the person, who spoke on...

LOS ANGELES - Democrat John Kerry has opened up a 16 percentage-point lead over President Bush in California, his candidacy boosted by strong support from independents, Hispanics and women, a poll found Monday. Kerry's commanding 54-to-38 percent margin in the poll by the Public Policy Institute of California represented a 5-point jump from July, when he held an 11 percentage-point lead over the president. Pollster Mark Baldassare said the Democratic ticket is benefiting from Ralph Nader's failure to collect enough signatures to make the ballot in California this year as an independent candidate. In 2000, Nader won about 4 percent...

<p>Washington -- Of all the arguments advanced by Gov. Gray Davis to fight the recall, none resonates more strongly with Democrats coast-to-coast than his assertion that Republicans are engaged in a systematic effort to steal elections.</p> <p>The anger that began over former President Bill Clinton's impeachment -- and intensified after the contested 2000 presidential election -- has solidified into an unshakeable belief among the party's faithful that the other side has abandoned rules of fair play.</p>