The Nation

OLYMPIA, Wash. — House and Senate Democrats in Washington state on Tuesday unveiled a $16 billion, 16-year transportation revenue package that spends on a variety of projects ranging from building new hybrid electric ferries and funding more walking and biking corridors to highway maintenance and replacing fish passage culverts. Unlike previous packages that have included gas tax increases, this plan gets a bulk of its funding — $5.4 billion — from a carbon pricing program signed into law last year that requires the state’s largest emitters, like refineries, to purchase credits for allowed emissions if they exceed a cap set by regulators. Other revenue sources include $3.4 billion from the the Federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that President Joe Biden signed in November, $2 billion from the state operating budget, and $2 billion from a new 6-cent-per-gallon tax on fuel exported to states with a lower gas tax rate than Washington, like Oregon, Alaska and Idaho. About $3.1 billion would be spent on transit programs, $3 billion would go toward highway preservation and maintenance and $2.6 billion would fulfill the state’s court-ordered obligation to replace fish passage culverts. Another $1.3 billion would be spent on building four new hybrid electric ferries and electrifying two existing ships, and $1.2 billion would be spent on programs like those that promote walking and bicycling to school through infrastructure improvements and bike and pedestrian safety programs. Funding would also be provided to ensure that those age 18 and younger can ride for free on public transportation. Rep. Jake Fey and Sen. Marko Liias, both Democrats who chair their chambers’ transportation committees, released the plan at a news conference. “We’ve worked hard over the last two years to listen to communities all across Washington, and they told us that their top priorities included preserving our infrastructure, finishing projects we’ve started, taking action against climate change, expanding multimodal options, and addressing the harm of past transportation policies,” Fey said in a written statement. Republicans, who are the minority party in both chambers, have expressed frustration that they haven’t had more input in what has normally been a bipartisan process in the past. “It’s not the way we’ve seen transportation done in our state for decades,” Republican Sen. John Braun said. “For whatever reason, the majorities have chosen to build an entire package by themselves hoping that because we have been broadly supportive of transportation packages, we would just come along without really truly being involved. That’s pretty disappointing.” Democrats have argued that in a short 60-day legislative session, they needed to have agreement among themselves in order to ensure a package could move this year, and said that there have been conversations with Republicans and that elements of the plan reflect those talks. The session is scheduled to end March 10.

UINTAH COUNTY, Utah — A semi-truck driver is dead after a Monday morning rollover crash on US 191 approximately 20 miles north of Vernal, Utah. The truck was reportedly hauling oilfield pipeline on a flatbed trailer when the accident occurred, according to reports by KTSU. “The truck lost control while going through an area of switchbacks, went off the side of the road, then rolled and landed upside down,” KTSU reported. The driver was reportedly ejected and suffered fatal injuries. The driver has yet to be identified but is reportedly from Texas. The Utah Highway Patrol closed the highway for more than two hours because the steel pipes were strewn across the road, which KTSU reported heavy equipment had to be brought in to remove.

SAN ANTONIO — Several cows were killed after the tractor-trailer carrying them rolled over in San Antonio late Monday night. The driver told police that the truck shifted to the right side as he took an exit at the Interstate 37 and Interstate 10 interchange, causing him to lose control, according to KSAT. Police said the truck, which was carrying 25 cows, saw its gears lock up, causing it to hit a guard rail and cross over the median before the truck rolled over on its side, according to KABB. The driver is reported to have suffered a scratch on the forehead. There is still no report on how many cows were killed. Another 18-wheeler later arrived to transfer the surviving cattle.

NORFOLK, Va. — A crane fell off a construction barge at the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel expansion project site in southeastern Virginia on Tuesday morning, but an official said no one was hurt. Steve Meyers, a spokesman for Hampton Roads Connector Partners, said the crane was being moved on the barge when it fell, but the operator escaped before it went into the water, he said. An investigation into what caused the crane to topple into the water is underway, he said. The crane was working on the construction of a new trestle that’s being built just to the west of an existing trestle near Willoughby Spit in Norfolk. The bridge-tunnel carries Interstate 64 across Hampton Roads Harbor near the Chesapeake Bay and connects the cities of Norfolk and Hampton. The $3.8 billion expansion project is expected to relieve congestion and be completed in November 2025.

ROANE COUNTY, Tenn. — A truck driver who authorities say hit and killed a Tennessee sheriff’s deputy is being held on $1 million bond after his first appearance in court on Monday. According to a report on WVLT.tv, Christopher Savannah, 42, allegedly does not have a valid commercial driver’s license and was under the influence at the time his big rig hit Loudon County Sgt. Chris Jenkins on Feb. 3 along Interstate 75 near the Tennessee River Bridge. Loudon had created a rolling barricade before attempting to remove a ladder on the interstate. Shortly after he had successfully slowed most of the traffic and began retrieving the ladder, Savannah’s big rig hit him, along with several other cars. According to the WLTV report, police testified that Savannah admitted to using marijuana several hours before the crash. He is charged with vehicular homicide by intoxication, vehicular homicide by recklessness, reckless endangerment times three, DUI, simple possession, possession of a handgun under the influence, possession of drug paraphernalia and other traffic charges.

LANSING, Mich. — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will propose a $1 billion, or nearly 20%, boost to Michigan’s transportation budget to repair roads and increase spending on transit and other programs. The $6.3 billion plan the governor will present to lawmakers Wednesday includes nearly $378 million in new road and bridge funding from the federal infrastructure law. Three-quarters would go to state roads and bridges — I-, U.S.- and M-numbered routes — and one-quarter to local roads and bridges. Whitmer’s proposal will include a call for augmenting the current $5.3 billion transportation budget with general funds. It also will factor in a nearly 1-cent-per-gallon inflationary fuel tax hike that took effect last month under a 2015 law. In a statement provided to The Associated Press, the governor said Michigan has made “huge progress” repairing, rebuilding or replacing roads and bridges, “but there’s still so much more to do.” Whitmer, who is up for reelection, made fixing the roads a major plank of her 2018 campaign. After the Republican-led Legislature rejected her proposal to significantly increase fuel taxes, the Democrat authorized $3.5 billion in borrowing to improve state-owned highways and bridges. Whitmer will recommend including $66 million in the transportation budget to put reliable backup generators at 164 highway pumping stations, The Detroit News reported Monday. Detroit-area highways were shut down multiple times last summer due to flooding. About $200 million in new federal infrastructure aid would bolster airport, transit and rail funding. Another $268 million in federal infrastructure dollars would be used to replace lead water pipes, upgrade water plants, improve sewage facilities and bolster energy-efficiency programs. Key centerpieces of Whitmer’s overall budget include education and tax cuts amid surplus state revenues and billions of dollars in federal pandemic aid. The AP reported Sunday she will propose spending $2.3 billion over four years to recruit and retain teachers and other school staff, enticing them with annual $2,000 bonuses that would grow to $4,000 by 2025. Her K-12 plan will include a $435, or 5%, increase in base per-pupil aid to districts and charter schools — lifting it to $9,135 — a big boost in extra funding that schools receive for at-risk kids and a higher reimbursement rate for special education costs. Districts currently are supposed to get $1,000 more for each economically disadvantaged child, but most receive $768 and some only $269 due to insufficient funding. Under Whitmer’s proposal, all districts would get $1,050 for each at-risk student. Whitmer also will propose continued funding for a planned multi-year expansion of the state’s free preschool program for low-income 4-year-olds. She previously called for exempting retirement income from taxation, increasing a tax credit for low- and moderate-wage families, and creating a $2,500 state credit for the purchase of an electric vehicle and charging equipment. GOP legislators have said they favor broader relief such as an income tax reduction.

A suicide prevention advocacy group in Rhode Island is calling on the agency that operates and maintains the state’s major bridges to put up temporary barriers to prevent people from taking their own lives while a plan for a permanent solution makes its way through the legislative process. Bridging the Gap for Safety and Healing says something needs to be done in the short term to prevent suicides as well as accidental falls from the Newport Pell, Jamestown Verrazzano, Mount Hope and Sakonnet River bridges. “This thing could drag out forever,” Bryan Ganley, one of the group’s co-founders, said of the legislative process in a phone interview Monday. “We can’t wait. All we’re asking is for the (Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority) to put up temporary construction-type barriers. They would not need legislative approval.” The group has also started an online petition, which had almost 4,200 signatures by Monday. There was a minimum of 33 fatal falls from the four bridges from 2009 to 2018, said Ganley, citing state Department of Health figures. But from November 2020 until November 2021 there were 12 suicides from the bridges, he said. The Mount Hope bridge has just a 35-inch rail, said Ganley, who has been a volunteer with The Samaritans of Rhode Island for more than 40 years. “A bridge with a 135-foot drop and a 35-inch rail is like handing a suicidal person a gun,” he said, acknowledging that barriers are just one aspect of suicide prevention, and better mental health outreach is needed. Although not addressing temporary barriers specifically, Lori Caron Silveira, executive director of the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority, in a statement Monday said, “Our bridges need to be safe for everyone who uses them.” “We are working with legislators and advocates to secure funding to ensure that adding barriers does not negatively impact the structural integrity of the bridges and are prepared to move ahead with an engineering study as soon as funding is identified,” she said. State Sen. Lou DiPalma and state Rep. Joseph Solomon Jr. plan on reintroducing legislation this week to require permanent suicide-prevention barriers or netting on the bridges. The legislation stalled last year because there was no money, said DiPalma, a Middletown Democrat. This year, there are multiple possible sources of funding, including the state’s more than $600 million surplus, federal coronavirus relief funds, or the federal infrastructure bill. The Turnpike and Bridge Authority has already chosen a company to do engineering and design work at a cost of about $1.5 million, he said. The final cost of the project could be as much as $50 million, according to legislative documents, but it could be a year or more before anything permanent is completed. That’s too long, Ganley said. Barriers work, he said, pointing to the Bourne and Sagamore bridges that span the Cape Cod Canal in nearby Massachusetts. In the 28-year period from 1984 until 2012 after 12-foot-high fences were installed, there were seven suicides from the bridges, Ganley said, citing figures from the Army Corps of Engineers, which operates both spans. Since 2013, there have been just two attempts.

CHEYENNE, Wyoming — A medical condition is being looked to in the death of a driver near Cheyenne on Sunday. The fatal crash happened near milepost 25 on Interstate 25 north of Cheyenne. Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers were notified of the motor vehicle collision at 10 a.m. The driver was behind the wheel of 2019 Freightliner Cascadia and was headed north on I-25. The truck reportedly drifted off the right side of the roadway before overcorrecting back to the left. This led to the tractor-trailer re-entering the road before colliding with a guardrail, causing it to overturn. The driver of the Freightliner has been identified as James H. Fitts, 61, of Loudon, Tennessee. Fitts was wearing his seatbelt and transported to Cheyenne Regional Medical Center, where he later succumbed to injuries. A possible medical condition is being investigated as a potential contributing factor. This is the fourth fatality on Wyoming’s roadways in 2022. At this time in 2021, there were 14 roadway fatalities, five in 2020 and 16 in 2019.

PITTSBURGH — An initial review did not identify the cause of a recent bridge collapse in Pittsburgh but concluded it began at the structure’s west end, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report issued Monday. The report said investigators found no primary fractures in sections of welded steel girders they examined that were considered “fracture critical.” A fracture critical area in a beam is the part most likely to show damage if the bridge has suddenly given way. The Forbes Avenue bridge gave way early Jan. 28, sending a city bus and four passenger cars down about 100 feet to the bottom of a ravine carved by Fern Hollow Creek. A fifth vehicle drove off the east bridge abutment and landed on its roof. In all, 10 vehicle occupants were injured, the agency said. Natural gas lines ruptured and required the evacuation of nearby homes. The collapse occurred just hours before President Joe Biden visited Pittsburgh to tout a new $1 trillion infrastructure law. The NTSB said it is extracting bridge components for closer study. A final report from the agency could take more than a year. The 447-foot-long bridge, built in the early 1970s, exhibited deterioration during an inspection in September, but it was not considered bad enough to warrant its closure. The bridge has had a 26-ton posted weight limit since 2014. There were no fatalities, but several people required hospital treatment. A UPMC spokesperson said that by Monday, all had been released. The state highway department has said $25.3 million in National Highway Performance Program funds will be used to rebuild it.

MORA, Minn. — A central Minnesota town is asking the state appeals court to decide whether towns can maintain only portions of their roads. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported Friday, Feb. 4, that Hillman Township in Kanabec County asked the Minnesota Court of Appeals in January to review a lower court ruling forcing it to maintain Hornet Street, a half-mile gravel road that leads to the home of Renee and Andy Crisman just outside Mora. The Crismans moved to the home in 2013 and asked the town to maintain the road all the way to their house. The property had long been unoccupied and the town hadn’t been plowing or grading the road all the way to the house. State law prohibits towns from resuming maintenance on a road that hasn’t been maintained in more than 25 years without voter approval. Voters turned down the Crismans’ request, prompting the family to sue. Kanabec County District Judg Stoney Hiljus ruled that state law doesn’t allow town voters to selectively maintain only portions of their roads. In effect, the judge said towns must maintain the entire road or none of it. The Minnesota Association of Townships argues that forcing towns to maintain little-used portions of their roads would create a tremendous financial burden and trump the authority the Legislature gave towns. “The ruling … amounts to the taxpayers providing some landowners with a new driveway,” the association said in a statement. Minnesota has more than 55,000 miles of township roads.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker wants relief for pocketbook-pinched consumers when they visit the filling station. Gas averages $3.60 per gallon statewide and inflation is at its highest rate since 1982. Pritzker, a Democrat facing reelection this year, last week proposed freezing the motor fuel tax, which is scheduled to jump 2 cents on July 1. It’s part of his state budget plan that also offers breaks on property taxes and grocery sales tax. WHY IS THE MOTOR FUEL TAX INCREASING? The $45 billion Rebuild Illinois capital construction plan in 2019 is funded in part from doubling to 38 cents per gallon the motor fuel tax, which funds transportation projects. It had stood at 19 cents per gallon for nearly 30 years, so lawmakers enacted annual increases tied to inflation. It’s 39.2 cents now. Without action, it will increase to 41.4 cents in the fiscal year that begins July 1. The freeze would save 35 cents when filling a 16-gallon tank — if the retailer, who pays the tax, passes it on. HOW MUCH WOULD IT COST THE CONSTRUCTION PROGRAM? It would reduce Rebuild Illinois funding by $135 million. That’s just 0.29% of the $46.5 billion capital construction plan Pritzker proposed for next year. It will not affect projects planned for the coming year, Deputy Gov. Andy Manar said. “These aren’t easy choices,” Manar said. “But the governor recognizes … that inflation is impacting working families in the state. So he is focused on the cost of groceries, the cost of gasoline, and the burden that property taxes place on working families.” DOES THAT LOSS HAVE FUTURE REPERCUSSIONS? That’s a key argument of critics. Shave money from the program for fixing a pothole this year and there may be two or three potholes when you get to it — along with inflationary cost increases for material and labor. Kevin Burke III, business co-chair for the Transportation for Illinois Coalition, said $135 million isn’t for one project that’s finished in a year. It’s pieced out among multiple jobs and potentially delays each. “The longer you take to do stuff, the more problems you’re going to have, and the more expensive the project is going to be,” Burke said. “The whole purpose of the index was so that we we don’t get into the position where we don’t fund our roads properly for 20 to 30 years.” ISN’T ILLINOIS GETTING FEDERAL INFRASTRUCTURE MONEY? That’s another reason Pritzker feels confident. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that President Joe Biden signed in November will bring Illinois $3.8 billion over the next five years in addition to $14 billion already planned, according to the transportation coalition. THEN WHY ARE TRANSPORTATION ADVOCATES COMPLAINING? Because they say the need is so great. The money generated in the Rebuild Illinois plan was not enough to fix all the problems in the state, Burke said. And even with additional federal money, the state shouldn’t back off, said Ed Maher, spokesman for the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150. “It’s not as though we started this on a level playing field,” Maher said. “Our infrastructure was underfunded for decades so we’ve got a massive game of catch-up to play here. Now is not the time to start taking money out of that.” IS THE MOTOR FUEL TAX THE ONLY FUEL TAX? No. Motorists also pay 18.4 cents a gallon in federal taxes and 1.1 cents per gallon to fund cleanup of abandoned leaking underground storage tanks. Additionally, Illinois is one of 16 states that charges sales tax on motor fuel. Consumers pay 6.25% on the final pump price. WHERE DOES THE SALES TAX GO? Traditionally, it’s been paid into general operating funds, although that’s changing, too. Rebuild Illinois ordered that each year for five years, incrementally larger portions of sales tax receipts go to the road fund until it reaches 80%, with the balance going to local governments. The share stands at 16% and would go to 32% July 1. Senate Republicans introduced a broad-based tax-relief plan last week that includes reducing the sales tax on gas to 5.25% while accelerating the annual road-fund transfer to 53%, adding $80 million. On a 16-gallon fill-up at $3.60 per gallon, that’s a savings of 58 cents. ISN’T THERE A BAR ON USING ROAD FUND MONEY FOR OTHER PURPOSES? Yes, but it doesn’t apply here. In 2016, a prohibition on “sweeping” the road fund was approved by 79% of voters. The Lockbox Amendment ended years of subsidizing other parts of the budget with road money. Pritzker’s freeze would mean the state collects no money and therefore, no one can sweep it. But it sets a precedent, say critics, and state officials have lived to regret taking “holidays” from paying annual obligations, notably toward employee pensions. ___ This story has been updated to correct that five-year federal road funding for Illinois before the infrastructure act had been $14 billion, not $17 billion. ___ Follow Political Writer John O’Connor at https://twitter.com/apoconnor  

MIAMI – Two Miami men were each sentenced to 41 months in federal prison for stealing 192 medical ventilators worth approximately $3 million from a big rig. The ventilators were owned by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and were bound for a COVID-19 intensive care facility in El Salvador as part of a U.S. COVID-19 aid program. The ventilators were stolen in South Florida while in transit to El Salvador. Yoelvis Denis Hernandez, also known by the alias “Guajiro,” 42, and Luis Urra Montero, also known by the alias “Flaco,” 25, previously pled guilty to theft of government property. Montero was sentenced to 41 months in prisonthe week of Jan. 30, 2022; Hernandez was sentenced to 41 months in prison in December 2021. According to court documents, on Aug. 9, 2020, Hernandez and Montero stole a tractor-trailer loaded with 192 medical ventilators during its transport by truck to Miami International Airport. USAID had acquired the ventilators and was sending them to the government of El Salvador as part of an aid program to treat critically ill COVID-19 El Salvadorian patients. Hernandez and Montero stole the trailer from a lot where the driver had left it overnight. Following an investigation, federal law enforcement agents recovered most of the stolen ventilators. Juan Antonio Gonzalez, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, FBI, Miami Field Office, and Ann Calvaresi Barr, Inspector General, U.S. Agency for International Development, Office of Inspector General (USAID-OIG), announced the sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Marcia G. Cooke. FBI Miami, FBI Miami’s Major Theft Task Force and USAID-OIG investigated this case, with assistance from Boynton Beach Police Department, Miami Dade Police Department, Medley Police Department, City of Miami Gardens Police Department, and Broward Sheriff’s Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lindsey Lazopoulos Friedman and Michael B. Homer. Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Stone is handling asset forfeiture. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 20-cr-20252.  

LOS ANGELES — Boeing has donated $1 million toward construction of a bridge over a Southern California highway to allow mountain lions and other animals to move between fragmented wilderness areas, the National Wildlife Federation said Thursday. The donation was announced at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, which has an exhibit featuring a famous mountain lion that has lived in LA’s sprawling Griffith Park since 2012 after surviving crossings of two major freeways. “As we prepare to break ground on the landmark conservation project this spring, the generous contribution from Boeing leaves the #SaveLACougars campaign with an estimated only $5-10 million left to raise toward construction costs,” Dirk Sellers, the federation’s chief development officer, said in a statement. The planned wildlife crossing would be built west of Los Angeles at Liberty Canyon, stretching over 10 lanes of heavily traveled U.S. 101 to connect the coastal Santa Monica Mountains on the south to hill country to the north. Boeing’s Santa Susana Field Laboratory lies to the north and is home to numerous species of wildlife. In particular, mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains are at risk of losing genetic diversity because of the difficulty of dispersing.

BOSTON — Massachusetts can look forward to an influx of about $9.5 billion to help build and repair its transportation systems under the federal infrastructure law approved last year, Gov. Charlie Baker said Thursday. Baker offered spending details during a visit to the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, nothing that $170 million will go toward replacing the nearby Rourke Bridge. The project is part of an anticipated $3 billion bridge program over the next several years using a combination of federal infrastructure dollars and state money. As part of Thursday’s announcement, the administration released a list of 146 bridge projects, representing 181 individual structures, set to be funded. Over a five-year period, Baker said, the federal law will deliver about $9.5 billion in total funding to Massachusetts including $5.4 billion in highway formula funds, $2.2 billion in MBTA formula funds and $591 million in Regional Transit Authority formula funds, as well as $1.4 billion for environmental projects. Baker compared the funding windfall to Christmas morning for the state’s roads, bridges, public transportation and environmental infrastructure. “Christmas was probably the day this thing got signed,” he said. “Now we’re just in the process of starting to open some of the packages.” The new law also allows states to compete for a portion of an additional $110 billion to help finance both locally significant projects and major undertakings like the plan to replace the Sagamore and Bourne bridges connecting Cape Cod to the rest of Massachusetts. Baker said the federal infrastructure dollars will build on the more than $18 billion in investments the administration has made in the state’s roads, bridges and public transportation systems to reduce congestion, modernize existing transportation systems and expand service for the entire state. “This is a tremendous opportunity for us. We should take full advantage it,” the Republican said. “I personally love the fact that it is a bipartisan infrastructure law. We need more of those.”

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Work Zone Data Working Group has released version 4.0 of its Work Zone Data Exchange (WZDx) Specification, a data-sharing standard to help automated driving systems and human drivers navigate roadway work zones more safely. Among other improvements, the 4.0 release defines standards for two new data feed — one that transmits information to drivers and automated driving systems about traffic management devices in use at work zones and one that transmits work-zone-specific lane closure and road restriction information. In 2019, the most recent year for which data are available, 842 people died in highway work zone crashes compared to 757 in the previous year. The 11.2% increase is the largest year-over-year percent increase of highway work zone fatalities this century. The WZDx Specification allows infrastructure owners and operators to make work zone data available with a common format and vocabulary for third-party use. Bringing these feeds into vehicles will help drivers and automated driving systems anticipate work zone travel changes and proceed more safely. Several data producers and data users have started to set up data feed based on WZDx. Earlier this month, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg publicly unveiled six DOT innovation principles, which will guide how the DOT deploys resources to foster purpose-driven transportation innovation. The Federal Highway Administration and Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office co-led the early stages of the project and remain actively involved along with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and other programs in the DOT.