U.S. October Road Traffic Continues Run of New Record Highs
Motor vehicle travel on all U.S. highways and streets increased 1.2 percent in October from a year earlier – adding 3.3 billion more vehicle miles – and continued a string of record-high volume levels. The Federal Highway Administration in its latest monthly "Traffic Volume Trends" report said motorists racked up an estimated 275 billion vehicle miles in October as demand for roadway travel kept growing. After traffic volume set an all-time yearly high in 2016, it is on pace for another re...
Texas DOT to Add Toll, Non-Toll Capacity on US 183 in North Austin
The Texas Transportation Commission said it authorized the state Department of Transportation to advance a $500 million set of projects to add both toll and non-toll capacity along 9 miles of US 183 in north Austin. "This expansion is going to address congestion and improve mobility and safety for drivers," said Terry McCoy, TxDOT's Austin district engineer. "As traffic in north Austin increases, this multilane expansion will offer options for commuters." It will proceed as two projects, t...
U.S. Highway Traffic Hits Another Record High in July, Adding to System Demand
Motor vehicle travel on all U.S. roads rose again in July to continue a streak of setting ever-higher record volume levels with every new monthly report. The Federal Highway Administration in its latest "Traffic Volume Trends" report said motorists drove 2.2 billion more vehicle miles in July than in the same month last year, for a 0.8 percent gain over July 2016. And for the first seven months of 2017 the FHWA said vehicle miles traveled increased by 1.5 percent, after setting an all-time...
Maryland Seeks Largest North American P3 to Sharply Boost Capacity on Major Highways
Touting his proposals as "massive" and "transformative," Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said he wants to use North America's largest public-private partnership efforts in a $9 billion "traffic relief plan" to add toll lanes and traffic capacity on three heavily used highways that connect with Washington, D.C., and Virginia. The plan would use a P3 portion to add four new lanes to the entire Maryland portion of the Interstate 495 Capital Beltway, plus to I-270 between Virginia and Frederick, Md....
AECOM Executive Vice President Matt Cummings Elected 2017-2018 ARTBA Chairman
(WASHINGTON)— Matthew (Matt) G. Cummings, a Philadelphia-based executive vice president with global infrastructure company AECOM, has been elected 2017-2018 American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) chairman. The association made the announcement Sept. 19. Cummings’ career in the transportation construction industry spans 30 years, including 23 years at AECOM. A registered professional engineer in multiple states, he currently leads the firm’s $2 billion transportation busi...
RIDOT Completes Project Two Months Early, $300K Under Budget
The Rhode Island Department of Transportation joined with state and local officials to celebrate completion in South Kingstown of its High Street and Kingstown Road Improvements project, which came in about two months ahead of schedule and $300,000 under budget. It is another in a trend of state DOTs trying to accelerate projects to bring their benefits to users more quickly and cut costs. "I'd like to congratulate our project management team for their diligent work that allowed us to fini...
FHWA Decision on Highway Safety Equipment Cost Recovery Will Improve Safety & Promote Innovation, ARTBA Says
(WASHINGTON)— A Sept. 8 Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) decision will improve safety for workers and motorists, and encourage competition and innovation in both the public and private sectors by allowing funding for new classes of construction and safety equipment, the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) said. The agency issued a guidance memorandum that details how states can recoup the cost of acquiring highway safety equipment as a direct charge on federal-a...
U.S. Driving Increases for Sixth Straight Year, New Federal Data Show
WASHINGTON – New data released today by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) show that U.S. driving topped 1.58 trillion miles in the first six months of 2017 – or more than 8,500 roundtrips from Earth to the Sun – continuing a streak of steadily increasing vehicle miles travelled (VMT) that began in 2011. The new data, published in FHWA’s latest “Traffic Volume Trends” report – a monthly estimate of U.S. road travel – show that more than 280.9...
Gov. Mcauliffe Breaks Ground on I-395 Express Lanes Extention
RICHMOND - Governor Terry McAuliffe today joined the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and its private partner and operator of the I-95 Express Lanes, Transurban, to break ground on the start of construction of an eight-mile extension of the I-395 Express Lanes from Turkeycock Run near Edsall Road in Alexandria to the Washington, D.C. border. The project provides more options for faster and more reliable travel in one of the most heavily traveled corridors in the country and expands t...
West Virginia DOT: Road Damage From Recent Storms at $7M So Far
The West Virginia Department of Transportation's Division of Highways estimated that as of Aug. 1 the state had absorbed about $7 million in flood damages to roughly 200 roads in 11 counties, after heavy rains created sudden flooding July 28 and 29. The total could rise, though, as the announcement said the DOH "continues to make repairs and assess damages." News reports said northern and north-central areas of the state were hit hard, in a region of steep mountains and valleys vulnerable...