Free Republic

A man hit and killed by an Amtrak train Monday morning in Moorpark had been placing flowers on the tracks for another man fatally struck on Saturday by an Amtrak train, authorities said. Monday's fatality occurred around 11:33 a.m., when a northbound passenger train from Los Angeles was traveling through the city at about 70 mph, according to the Ventura County Sheriff's Office, which provides police services in the city. The man, described as a 47-year-old Moorpark resident, was hit near Avenida Colonia and Nogales Avenue and was pronounced dead at the scene. Tracks in the area pass underneath Highway...

The Democrats are attempting to con President Trump into a decision that could end his bid for re-election. It’s a horrible idea! The main reason you know it’s a horrible idea is that you are the one they are expecting to pay for it. And when’s the last time that Democrats ever forced you to pay for something you actually wanted? Through politispeak-gobbledygook they have whispered to one another that they can convince President Trump to deliver them a multi-fold win—and, they think to themselves—we can crucify his re-election chances in 2020. They are not wrong. What they are seeking...

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 —...

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- If a "community grid" is chosen to replace Interstate 81 in downtown Syracuse, what will happen to the land that's now under the aging viaduct's shadow? Whether it will be turned into green space or developed commercially is still an open question, according to city and state officials. A group of local architects is hoping to force the issue. The local chapter of the American Institute of Architects estimated in a recent paper that 18.6 acres of land will be made available if the 1.4-mile elevated highway is taken down. Taking the viaduct down and beefing up...

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Monday said she will support the construction of a street-level community grid to replace the elevated portion of Interstate 81 in Syracuse.Until now, Gillibrand declined to take a position on the issue, saying it was up to Central New Yorkers to choose the best option for replacing the 1.4-mile viaduct that cuts through the heart of Syracuse.Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said during a visit to Syracuse on Monday that she decided to speak out after discussions with community stakeholders who favor the grid over a tunnel or new elevated highway."Given where the stakeholders are -- and given what...

BURLEY — A multiple-vehicle crash sent four people to Idaho hospitals Oct. 30 east of Burley. Idaho State Police investigated the crash just before 3 p.m. on westbound Interstate 84 near the Interstate 86 junction. The crash included a truck and two semi-trailers, blocking eastbound and westbound lanes for two-and-a-half hours. John Greigg, 31, of Sonoma, Calif., was driving a 2018 Ford F250 east on I-84 near milepost 221.5. Kolton King, 49, of Layton, Utah, was driving west on I-84 in a 2017 Freightliner commercial vehicle pulling two trailers. Greigg attempted to make a U-turn from the eastbound lane of...

State police have released details on a four-vehicle crash that tied up traffic Thursday morning on Interstate 99 in Patton Township. According to the report, officers responded to the crash shortly before 9 a.m. to the 71.5 mile marker within the construction zone along the interstate. Troopers reported that James E. Bentz, 60, of Tampa, Fla., was traveling north into the construction zone when he struck a car driven by Christian L. Lamana, 25, of Milroy. Bentz allegedly stated he had been traveling faster than the posted speed and didn’t see traffic moving slower in the construction zone, police said....

WASHINGTON — Some rush-hour commutes on Interstate 95 have been better since a 2-mile extension of the 95 Express Lanes opened to reduce backups in the regular and toll lanes at the original southern merge, but others have been slower, according to analyses by VDOT and the Express Lanes’ operator.Transurban said average afternoon rush hour tolls for trips from anywhere in the lanes that end at or south of Garrisonville dropped by 8.2 percent — from $21.52 between Nov. 1, 2016, and Sept. 30, 2017, to $19.76 in the period between Nov. 1, 2017, and Sept. 30, 2018.The one-lane extension...

The commutes of tens of thousands of people will be disrupted for the next few years as Maryland replaces the Interstate 895 bridge north of the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel. The Maryland Transportation Authority plans to limit that part of the expressway to one lane in each direction starting later this month for the $189 million project to replace the 60-year-old bridge. The northbound lanes of I-895 will close from the tunnel to O’Donnell Street on Nov. 27 — the Tuesday after Thanksgiving — and the two southbound lanes will be converted to two-way traffic through spring 2020. Once the northbound...

Everyone not named Franklin D. Roosevelt hates Daylight Saving Time. The constant back and forth is confusing, especially for those who have an early Sunday morning commitment. The Standard Time Act of 1918 gave the federal government power to oversee national time zones. That power was extended with the passage of the Uniform Time Act of 1966, which allows the Department of Transportation (DOT) to set Daylight Saving Time for the entire country. Why DOT? Because "time standards are important for many modes of transportation," or something like that. Despite decades of observance, however, more and more Americans are rebelling...

By Bruce DePuyt — When Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) announced a major plan to widen three Maryland roadways last year, even transportation insiders were caught off-guard. “I was surprised by it, but I rejoiced at it,” said John B. Townsend II, AAA mid-Atlantic’s manager of public and government affairs. “As much as people are loath to admit it, the congestion in Maryland has limited economic development in the state. And [it has] impacted the quality of life because of the amount of hours — more than 80 hours a year [on average] — we spend being stuck in...

At a packed town hall meeting in Brooklyn Thursday evening to discuss options for saving a crumbling section of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, city officials from the Department of Transportation came up against some not-unexpected pushback against a proposal that would involve closing the Brooklyn Heights promenade for six years. This was the first public meeting since the city unveiled two separate proposals for the project last week. The meeting opened with a presentation of both options—each projected to cost between $3 billion and $4 billion—while Polly Trottenberg, the city’s transportation commissioner, braced herself for the inevitable backlash. “I understand a...

If Elon Musk’s Boring Company succeeds, the fantasy of slipping into a pod and being whisked from Washington, D.C. to New York City in less than 30 minutes may become a reality. As startling as that might be, such transformational projects are nothing new. Think of how Americans of a half-century ago felt once the national interstate highway system was complete and a cross-country road trip shortened from two weeks to five days. Infrastructure improvements in the U.S. – such as the interstate system, built in the 1950s and 1960s, the first transcontinental railway in the 1860s, and the Erie...

HONG KONG — China officially opened the world’s longest sea bridge on Tuesday after China’s leader, Xi Jinping, and local officials inaugurated the 34-mile structure, which crosses the Pearl River Delta to link Hong Kong with Macau and the mainland Chinese city of Zhuhai. The project, which includes sections of bridge and artificial islands linked by a four-mile tunnel west of Hong Kong’s airport, went billions of dollars over budget and was delayed by two years. Chinese officials expect the bridge to significantly cut driving time between the two sides of the Pearl River, helping to achieve their vision of...

Talk to neighbors and transportation activists, and you’ll get pretty much the same answer: The best option for replacing the aging Massachusetts Turnpike viaduct in Allston is a new stretch of highway at ground level. Ask state Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack, who will make the final call, and, well, she’s still wondering if the state should just build another viaduct. Pollack will know more soon, when a consultant is expected to weigh in with a deep analysis of the options for the $1 billion-plus project to straighten the turnpike where it curls around an old rail yard in Allston, the...

More than 300 bridges in Connecticut — carrying 4.3 million vehicles daily — are considered structurally deficient. Highways in the Bridgeport-Stamford area are so congested motorists waste 49 hours a year in bumper-to-bumper traffic. And 62 percent of Connecticut’s major roads are in such poor condition they cost motorists $681 annually in vehicle repairs, according to TRIP, a national transportation think tank. Given those challenges, the three men seeking to replace Gov. Dannel P. Malloy could be making transportation the centerpiece of their campaigns. But instead, these candidates for governor are offering mostly modest plans to fix the state’s infrastructure...

Maryland voters narrowly oppose adding express toll lanes to widen three of the state’s most congested highways, a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll finds, highlighting public skepticism about one of Gov. Larry Hogan’s signature transportation plans. The centerpiece of the Republican governor’s proposal — a $9 billion project to add four lanes apiece to the Capital Beltway, Interstate 270 and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway — is even opposed by voters in the Washington suburbs, whom the plan is supposed to help. More than half of voters in the D.C. suburbs prefer to invest in public transit rather than building more roads....

f you want good roads, you have to pay for them. It’s not just the politicians in Madison and Washington, D.C., who have failed to learn that lesson. It’s the people of Wisconsin, too.

In life, some things are unavoidable: death, taxes — and if you live in South Florida — tolls. Coughing up money to drive on the highways add to the cost of living in South Florida. Drivers in Miami-Dade and Broward spent more than a half billion dollars in tolls fees in the last year. Consider: A daily trip from Kendall to downtown Miami costs over $4 roundtrip by Sunpass, or about $1,000 a year for a five-day a week, 50-week commuter. For those who haven’t signed up for Sunpass, the toll-by-plate rate of almost $8 per day amounts to $2,000...

North Carolina officials are trying to figure out how to unwind parts or all of a 2014 public-private partnership that is building managed toll lanes on a Charlotte-area highway.Ever since the ink dried on North Carolina’s first transportation P3 contract, the plan to relieve severe congestion in the Charlotte region has generated controversy.Public opposition remains just as fierce today to the project that will add express lanes on Interstate 77, even though more than one report says the deal with I-77 Mobility Partners LLC, a consortium led by Cintra Infraestructuras S.A., was properly authorized and permitted.The 26-mile-long project is designed...