The Nation

ATLANTA — The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported Thursday that a driver is in custody after crashing a tractor-trailer into a motel in northwest Atlanta and running from the scene, officials said. Atlanta Fire Rescue spokesman Sgt. Cortez Stafford told AJC.com that the truck went “partially” into the side of the Airway Motel in the 700 block of Fulton Industrial Boulevard on Thursday morning. There were no reports of injuries. The “bobtail” tractor-trailer left the road, hit a parked limousine and went into the one-story building about 9:15 a.m., Atlanta police Officer Jarius Daugherty said. The driver ran but was captured nearby, police said. His identity and the charges against him have not been released. A woman was inside the motel room where the truck hit, but she was able to escape by climbing out of a back window, Channel 2 Action News reported. “I just started crying and screaming,” the woman, Lashonda Allen, told the news station. “I was just praying to God the semi-truck didn’t catch on fire.” Crews are checking the structural integrity of the building and investigating what sparked the crash. By noon, the truck had been removed, and a gaping hole remained in the brick building.

WELLINGTON, Utah — A speeding tractor-trailer skidded off a snow-slicked road Wednesday and crashed into a restaurant in a small Utah town, flattening the establishment and injuring 3 people, authorities said. The truck was traveling too fast for conditions at about 6:30 a.m. when it went off a state highway that runs through the town of Wellington and struck the Los Jilbertos restaurant, which was open, the Utah Highway Patrol said in a statement. State troopers rescued the restaurant owner’s wife, who was trapped in in the wreckage and suffered what were described as minor injuries. Also taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries were the restaurant owner and the truck driver, said Highway Patrol Sgt. Nicholas Street. No customers were inside the restaurant when the truck hit it. Images of the wreck showed the restaurant’s snow-covered roof torn off and leaning on top of the collapsed restaurant, the semi-trailer’s cab lodged into a corner of the building and the trailer jack-knifed. The restaurant is just off the highway, State Route 6. The crash knocked out electrical and gas service to part of Wellington, a community of about 1,600 residents about two hours southeast of Salt Lake City. The power outage closed the town’s elementary school.  

When we reported the top 10 industry concerns as rated though a survey of professional truck drivers, motor carrier executives and other industry stakeholders, the lack of truck parking was rated No. 2 among driver and No. 9 among motor carrier executives. Overall, it ranked No. 5. Based on the survey, the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) listed the top three strategies that would help ease the situation, realizing that it would never be totally solved. In our coverage, we listed the strategies for the top three overall issues – the driver shortage, Hours of Service and driver retention – but stopped there. Today, we want to list the strategies for alleviating the truck parking problem. In its report, ATRI noted that the growing scarcity of available truck parking has created a dangerous and costly dilemma for truck drivers, who are often forced to drive beyond allowable HOS rules or park in undesignated and, in many cases unsafe, locations.  The Federal Highway Administration last year updated the original 2015 Jason’s Law Truck Parking Survey Results and Comparative Analysis, which confirmed that the lack of safe truck parking continues to be a major issue in the United States. The FHWA work is being done through the National Coalition of Truck Parking and its four work groups: Parking Capacity; Technology and Data; Funding, Finance and Regulations; and State, Regional, and Local Government Coordination. Nothing necessarily concrete was included in the update, based on published reports. Here are the top three strategies for the truck parking issue, as listed in the ATRI survey: Identify strategic locations on the National Freight Network for new or expanded truck parking due to increased traffic congestion and industry/regulatory changes. A majority of survey respondents (50.2 percent) have indicated that identifying strategic locations to expand truck parking capacity is their preferred strategy for addressing the pervasive shortage of truck parking. In particular, reopening shuttered parking facilities and investing in new facilities are the most direct strategies aimed at alleviating the chronic and growing shortage of truck parking along the National Freight Network.  Other options, such as repurposing vacant urban and suburban land parcels for truck parking, are also being explored as potential solutions to this critical industry issue. Educate the public sector on the safety consequences that result from closing public parking facilities and/or failing to expand truck parking availability. The Jason’s Law Report first brought attention to the safety risks commercial drivers face because of the truck parking shortage, and more recent research continues to quantify the safety impacts of an inadequate supply of truck parking. ATRI’s truck parking diary research quantified the frequency in which drivers are forced to park in undesignated or unauthorized truck parking locations like highway shoulders or ramps, with 48.7 percent of drivers reporting that the parking shortage leads them to do so between three to seven times per week. As such, this is the preferred strategy for 38.2 percent of respondents, up from 29 percent in 2017, as a growing number of industry stakeholders hope that educating state and local officials on the critical need for safe truck parking facilities could lead to new investments. Research the role and value of real-time truck parking information availability and truck parking reservation systems. Leveraging technological advancements to develop real-time truck parking solutions was the preferred strategy for a small but growing percentage of respondents. The share of respondents selecting this strategy increased from 7.2 percent to 11.7 percent reflecting the considerable public-sector interest and investment in these systems. We all know that the federal government moves slowly, so we thought we’d bring you a few nuggets from the minutes of the August meeting of the Parking Capacity work group that show the inertia of such meetings. One working-group member pointed out that there was a typo in the description of the Louisiana example; Another working-group member stated that the working group should consider rephrasing the description of vault toilets to say that they cost less than port-o-johns, and that the current description fails to demonstrate that vault toilets increase capacity for truck parking; and finally a discussion about presentation packing: the working group responded that they like having the documents separate and not compiled into a single large document. Another group member said that they like them separate, but organized by working group, while a third shared that they’d prefer to have the documents compiled into a single large document. Meanwhile, truckers struggle to find safe parking places.

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Authorities in northern Arizona had a sweet hot mess on their hands after a tank trucker’s trailer detached from the truck and rolled on its side on slick pavement, spilling a river of liquid chocolate onto westbound lanes of Interstate 40. The Arizona Daily Sun reports the wreck Monday about 11 miles east of Flagstaff required cleanup crews to pour most of the 40,000 gallons of chocolate into the highway median to lighten the damaged tanker so it could be towed away. The chocolate was liquid because it was being stored in the tanker at 120 degrees State Department of Public Safety spokesman Bart Graves says there were no injuries. The driver was not cited. Clean-up crews poured most of the chocolate into the median in order to lighten the trailer’s load and allow a tow truck to haul it away, Graves said. “The rear of the tanker was badly damaged and we had to make it lighter in order for the tow truck to haul it away,” Graves said. The roadway was closed for about four hours while the road was cleared. Graves said it was fortunate the incident happened next to an off ramp, allowing officers to divert traffic off the highway.  

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Six professional truck drivers — three company drivers and three owner-operators — have been chosen as finalists in the Truckload Carriers Association’s 2018 Driver of the Year contest. The six will now compete for the grand prize in each division. The finalists were selected based on their ability to operate safely on public highways, their efforts to enhance the public image of the trucking industry, and their contributions to the communities in which they live, TCA officials said. Esach grand prize winner will receive $25,000, while the two runners-up in each division will win $2,500. Finalists in the Company Driver of the Year competition include: 2018 Company Driver of the Year Contest finalists: Don Lewis of Republic, Missouri, who drives for Wilson Logistics of Springfield, Missouri. David McGowan of Marinette, Wisconsin, who drives for WEL Companies of De Pere, Wisconsin. Ester Nemeth of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, who drives for Bison Transport also of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Finalists in the Owner-Operator of the Year competition include: Danny Jewell of Nebraska City, Nebraska, who is leased to Warren Transport of Waterloo, Iowa. Kevin Kocmich of Litchfield, Minnesota, who is leased to Diamond Transportation System of Racine, Wisconsin. Robert Roth of Coldwater, Ontario, Canada, who is leased to Erb International of New Hamburg, Ontario, Canada. “Each one of our finalists is exceptional,” said TCA Chairman and Searcy Specialized President Dan Doran. “Regardless of who may take home the grand prize award in March, each driver has made significant contributions to the industry and should be applauded for their efforts as they’re setting the finest example possible.” Grand prize winners will be announced at TCA’s 81st Annual Convention at the Wynn Las Vegas Resort on Tuesday, March 12 during the annual Awards Banquet. For more information on the Driver of the Year Contests, please visit www.truckload.org/DOY.                  

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Matthew Kendrick of Sacramento, California, a professional truck driver for Melton Truck Lines of Tulsa, Oklahoma, has been named a Highway Angel by the Truckload Carriers Association for not only shielding crashed vehicles but also assisting occupants that were trapped. In July, Kendrick was driving in a heavy rain and wind storm near the Pearl River in Mississippi. “I saw that several trucks were starting to break up ahead of me,” he said. “And then I noticed that a tree had come down and crushed two cars in front of me.” Acting swiftly, Kendrick safely pulled his truck over to block approaching vehicles from the inoperable cars. Without a moment to spare, he grabbed his tools and quickly ran to check on the occupants. As he approached the first vehicle, the roof was completely gone. Kendrick noticed additional vehicles approaching the scene. “I told the [drivers] to all put on their lights so that we didn’t have a pile up,” he shared. Once peering inside the first car, he found a woman and her daughter, both visibly shaken but coherent. “I assured the passengers that everything was going to be alright, and then used my spotlights to secure the area until law enforcement arrived,” Kendrick said. In the second car, he discovered a man, along with a Bassett Hound. While awaiting emergency personnel, Kendrick retrieved a soda from his cab as well as dog bones as he has a dog in the truck. TCA has presented Kendrick with a certificate, patch, lapel pin, and truck decals. Melton Truck Lines, Inc. also received a certificate acknowledging their driver as a Highway Angel. .  

WASHINGTON — A new report by the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) highlights excessive vehicle speed as a persistent factor in nearly one-third of all motor vehicle-related fatalities. Despite this, speeding is not given enough attention as a traffic safety issue and is widely deemed culturally acceptable by the motoring public, the report said. “Speeding Away from Zero: Rethinking a Forgotten Traffic Safety Challenge” takes a fresh look at this challenging topic, outlining the latest available data and research, federal and state policies, existing programs to reduce speeding-related crashes, and promising future approaches, according to GHSA Executive Director Jonathan Adkins. “If we want to get to zero deaths on our roads, we need to address speeding on a much deeper and more comprehensive level than we have been,” Adkins said. “This clear and present danger on our roadways makes it imperative to devote additional resources toward getting drivers to slow down in order to save lives.” Speeding by motorists particularly threatens the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists by not only increasing the chances of a crash, but also increasing the risk of serious injury or death when crashes occur, the report said. A 2017 national survey of drivers conducted by AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that half of motorists (50.3 percent) reported exceeding the speed limit by 15 mph on a freeway and 47.6 percent reported driving 10 mph over the speed limit on a residential street in the past month. In addition, this study found that there is a greater disapproval by drivers for speeding on a residential street than on freeways. Of those respondents, 79.3 percent feel that speeding on freeways is a serious or somewhat serious threat to their safety, and 88.2 percent view drivers speeding on residential streets as a very serious or somewhat serious threat to their personal safety. However, 23.9 percent of respondents believed that speeding 15 mph above the posted speed limit on the freeway is “completely” or “somewhat” acceptable. These self-reported behaviors and attitudes have varied only slightly in the previous 10 years, the report said. On the other hand, even small decreases in travel speed can reduce crash and injury severity and save lives. While some urban areas have had success in reducing vehicle speeds (for example, by lowering the speed limits in New York City and Boston), a greater proportion of speeding-related fatalities actually occur on rural roadways, claiming more than 5,000 lives in 2016 alone. Vision Zero efforts have been at the forefront of steps to curb speeding in cities, and GHSA hopes to see this concept and its principles spread to more suburban and rural jurisdictions across the country. Vision Zero is a strategy to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries, while increasing safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all. First implemented in Sweden in the 1990s, Vision Zero has proved successful across Europe — and now it’s gaining momentum in major American cities. The GHSA report outlines of number of additional recommendations to reduce speeding on the nation’s roadways. Suggestions consist of federal legislative and programmatic prioritization, more aggressive and sustained law enforcement efforts (including automated speed enforcement) and engineering the built environment for safer speeds through roundabouts and other traffic calming elements. GHSA’s State Highway Safety Office members are uniquely positioned within state government to launch new speeding reduction programs, spearhead public education and enforcement efforts, and coordinate broad stakeholder alliances, the report said. To confront the issue of speeding directly, GHSA, in partnership with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), is convening a speeding forum in April, bringing together a wide range of stakeholders to develop the architecture of a new, integrated speed management program that state highway safety agencies and their many partners can implement in tandem to convince motorists, improve roadways, and change culture to prioritize safety over speed. The Governors Highway Safety Association is a nonprofit association representing the highway safety offices of states, territories, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. It provides leadership and representation for the states and territories to improve traffic safety, influence national policy, enhance program management and promote best practices. Its members are appointed by their governors to administer federal and state highway safety funds and implement state highway safety plans. For more information, visit www.ghsa.org.              

If you’re heading your big rig toward Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland and the Washington, D.C. area, you might want to take note. A winter storm that contributed to at least five deaths in the Midwest pummeled the mid-Atlantic region for a second day Sunday, bringing with it an icy mix that knocked out power, cancelled flights and contributed to hundreds of car accidents. Virginia State Police said the driver of a military surplus vehicle was killed late Saturday after he lost control on Interstate 81 because of slick road conditions. Police said Ronald W. Harris, 73, of Gainesville, Georgia, died after his vehicle was struck by two tractor-trailers. The two tractor-trailer drivers were taken to a hospital for injuries that were not life-threatening. The state medical examiner determined Sunday that Harris’ death was storm-related, police said. Virginia State Police said they responded to more than 300 traffic crashes and helped nearly 200 disabled vehicles in Virginia from midnight to late Sunday afternoon. The storm knocked out power to nearly 200,000 people in Virginia and North Carolina at its height Sunday, according to PowerOutage.us. In North Carolina, Gov. Roy Cooper declared a state of emergency Sunday to help utility crews restore electricity more quickly after power lines fell because of freezing rain, ice and toppled trees. The state’s western mountains and foothills were hardest-hit along with the western Piedmont region and nearly 1,000 state transportation workers were called out to clear ice and snow. The National Weather Service reported nearly a half-inch of ice in some sections of western North Carolina, leading to fallen trees and power lines but other areas of the state got mostly a cold rain or freezing precipitation. Meanwhile, the storm caused headaches for travelers into and out of airports in the region, including more than 250 flight cancellations Sunday at the three main airports serving the nation’s capital. Washington’s Dulles International Airport tweeted that the Federal Aviation Administration had implemented a ground stop there on Sunday evening, impacting both inbound and outbound flights. For air travelers, the Dulles airport authority subsequently tweeted tips for flying on a snow day, including frequently checking for airline flight changes and packing “patience, a good dose of snow humor & a packet of hot chocolate.” By late Sunday afternoon, the Washington, D.C. metro area, northern Virginia and parts of Maryland had total snowfall accumulations ranging from five to eight inches. Central Virginia, including Richmond, had much smaller accumulations — as little as one inch — but the snow was followed by hours of sleet and freezing rain. arc Chenard, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland, said parts of the region could expect snow to continue falling into Sunday evening. “At this point, it is just going to head out to sea once it exits here this evening,” Chenard said. Most public school systems in northern Virginia and Prince George’s County schools in suburban Maryland said classes would be cancelled Monday. The storm also was affected parts of Maryland. In Baltimore, a man was fatally shot as he shoveled snow early Sunday morning. Police said a 43-year-old man was outside shoveling at 4:40 a.m. when an unidentified suspect shot him in the head and shoulder. The victim died at a hospital. Meanwhile, Illinois was trying to dig out from under heavy snowfall in some areas. Springfield’s State Journal-Register reports the state capital broke a 55-year record for daily snowfall on Saturday. It cited the National Weather Service as saying the 8.4 inches (21.3 centimeters) of snow that day in Springfield broke the previous record for a Jan. 12 in 1964 of 6.6 inches. Some 11.5 inches of snow fell on Springfield over three days. Among those killed in the Midwest during the storm was an Illinois state trooper struck by a car when he responded to a three-vehicle crash Saturday in suburban Chicago. tate Police Director Leo Schmitz told reporters that 34-year-old Christopher Lambert was headed home when he pulled over and got out of his squad car to respond to the accident. Schmitz said Lambert positioned his squad car to protect the other three cars and “took on the danger himself.” For Kansas City Chiefs offensive guard Jeff Allen, there was a bright spot hen a Good Samaritan helped pull his vehicle out of the snow after he got stuck en route to Arrowhead Stadium for the divisional playoff game Saturday. Allen said he made it on time for the Chiefs’ victory over the Indianapolis Colts because of the assistance. The man who helped Allen didn’t know he was a Chiefs player at the time. Allen turned to Twitter to track down the Good Samaritan. When they connected Sunday morning, Allen thanked him and promised him tickets to next week’s AFC Championship game. ___ Associated Press writer Gary D. Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina, contributed to this report.  

WASHINGTON — Tom Donohue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said Thursday that “infrastructure is integral to opportunity” in order to sustain the current economic growth experienced by the United States, adding that infrastructure modernization will be a key part of the Chamber’s agenda for 2019. “Our highways, bridges, ports and waterways have long stood as monuments to American achievement – and they have literally moved the American Dream,” he said during the organization’s 2019 State of American Business address held on January 10 at the Chamber’s headquarters in Washington. His comments were reported in an article in the Journal of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). “We want to keep it that way, which means we face the crucial task of modernizing the physical platform of our economy, much of which has already outlived its lifespan,” Donohue said. “Nearly everyone agrees that investing in our infrastructure is a major national priority – what’s missing is a sense of urgency. Things are only going to get worse, which is why we are calling on our leaders to pass a significant infrastructure package this year.” In order to generate more “viable solutions” for infrastructure funding, Donohue said the Chamber will offer $25,000 in cash prizes to those who can come up with the “best, most viable ideas” for a long-term sustainable funding mechanism. “We want to hear from everyone –students, academics, business leaders, the people out there doing the building – everyone,” Donohue said. “We’ll consolidate and publish all of the good ideas we receive – and we’ll have a big debate starting February 5th at our annual Infrastructure Summit.” Jim Tymon, the new executive director of AASHTO, also emphasized the importance of providing infrastructure that ultimately provides more transportation options now and in the future. State DOTs are also “less concerned” about what modes are used to move people and goods, said during a conference call with reporters on January 8. Rather, they are more focused on “making sure all modes are working efficiently so people and businesses have choices,” Tymon said. “Federal transportation infrastructure investment has traditionally unified political parties around the common belief that transportation serves all Americans,” he noted. “AASHTO believes that  despite the current state of politics here in Washington, transportation can be a common-ground issue that leads to real progress this year.” Tymon pointed out that, over the last five years, 27 states and the District of Columbia voted to increase motor fuel taxes to help fund more investment in transportation infrastructure. “Some of these states are traditionally blue states and some are traditionally red states; that just shows that both political parties have an interest in investing in infrastructure and can exercise the political will to raise revenue for it,” Tymon said. “But don’t mistake the success of raising revenue at the state level as an excuse for the Federal government to walk away from their responsibility,” Tymon added. “While the states cover more than half of the cost to build, operate, and maintain the nation’s highways and bridges, they cannot do this work alone. They need a strong federal partner.” That’s a theme the Chamber’s Donohue also stressed in his Thursday remarks. “I’ve been working on these issues for more than 30 years [and] it is my hope that the public and private sector leaders of this country will finally come together and help build the next generation of U.S. infrastructure; a modern, safe, and efficient system that history will regard as one of the great American feats of the 21st century,” he said.    

WASHINGTON — As the partial shutdown of the federal government over border wall funding stretches past 20 days, some state departments of transportation are beginning to curtail planning for new projects while several mass transit systems are scrambling as many rely on federal grants for both operating revenues and capital funding. In his first media briefing as the new executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), Jim Tymon said that since the 115th Congress did not pass FY 2019 appropriations for seven of the 12 annual spending bills, including the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) package, states to date are limited to only about a quarter of the federal funding they are scheduled to receive this year, Tymon said However, in an article published in the Journal of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Tymon stressed that the U.S. Department of Transportation employees paid out of the Highway Trust Fund – including all Federal Highway Administration employees – are reporting to duty with pay as usual and that FHWA is able to continue reimbursing states for projects approved prior to the shutdown. “I think what you’ll see in the short term is states finding ways to move money around from different pots in order to keep their systems operating as efficiently as possible. It’s not something they can do forever,” Tymon said. “The longer this drags on, you’re going to see states start to draw back on their letting for new projects because they won’t have their full allocation of federal money for 2019 yet.” For example, while a January 8 FHWA funding notice makes $30 billion worth of FY 2019 transportation funding available to be committed by states as authorized under the five-year Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, the agency also said that it would be “inadvisable” for states to commit a large amount of new federal dollars provided under today’s notice. For example, if there is a new continuing resolution from Congress lasting just 30 days, any dollars obligated beyond that prorated amount (i.e., 30/365th of full year funding) would then have to be de-obligated or returned to FHWA. Tymon said that the effect of the FHWA notice is that even if full FY 2019 highway dollars are now technically available, for all practical purposes, states can’t really commit all of those dollars because there’s a real risk of having to return some of them if the shutdown ends with another continuing resolution. Another worry among state DOTs is how a prolonged federal shutdown could impact the spring/summer construction season. Oklahoma DOT Executive Director Mike Patterson said in a presentation before the Oklahoma Transportation Commission on January 7 that roughly 45 upcoming highway, county road, and city street projects set to go out for bid in January and February totaling more than $137 million had to be delayed due to the lack of federal funding authorization. “While we’re very grateful that the Highway Trust Fund remains available to pay for the federal share of projects already under construction, the inability to award new contracts with federal funds could delay some projects from starting for several months.” Patterson said. “If this budget impasse continues, contractors could miss out on some of this year’s prime construction season in the spring and summer.”      

By SHAWN D. LEWIS ,  The Detroit News DETROIT — The pushing of Michigan’s roadwork into the colder months comes with great costs and risks for two of the area’s biggest projects. Work laying concrete has continued on Interstate 696 in Macomb County and Interstate 75 in Wayne County despite temperatures below or at 40 degrees, which, according to the American Concrete Institute, is the temperature for which measures to prevent freezing must be addressed. Costly precautions must be in place, including protecting fresh concrete from freezing by placing heaters along a route to ensure the concrete will take. “Nobody wants to build roads in the winter,” said Kevin MacDonald, a principal engineer with Minnesota-based Beton Consulting Engineers. In other words, he said, for every dollar spent on a road project conducted in July, it will cost between $1.30 and $1.50 in the winter. MacDonald said the cost for heating and enclosing concrete pavement is approximately 30 to 50 percent of the cost of the material and labor, “depending on a number of factors.” “Modern highway construction in cold, wet climates requires highly durable, as well as high-strength concrete,” he told The Detroit News . “This can be achieved in cold weather, so long as precautions are taken to ensure that the concrete has adequate strength.” But MacDonald noted taxpayers usually are not footing the bill for the higher costs. “Typically, these types of costs fall into means and methods over the contractor,” he said. “As such, the contractor will bear the cost.” A Michigan contractor working on one of the major road projects said his employees are using necessary precautions, and they are being closely monitored by the Michigan Department of Transportation to minimize the risk. Joe Goodall, vice president of Dan’s Excavating Inc. in Shelby Township, which is working on the I-75 project, said yes, contractors are working to prevent the ground from freezing. Goodall said workers are “covering the concrete when temperatures look to be dropping below freezing overnight or throughout the following days. The specifications for cold weather protection are being met on the project.” They also running heaters on the ground to keep it from freezing, he said. “We are keeping the concrete within the specifications for cold weather paving by any means needed,” Goodall said. The construction work is happening later in the season because the projects were delayed in September when the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association instituted a work stoppage after multiple failed attempts to bargain a new contract with the Operating Engineers Local 324. A prior, five-year deal expired in June. The construction rift prompted the shutdown or partial halt of 89 Michigan Department of Transportation projects and 75 local projects. “We are bound by contract with MDOT to complete the project in a time frame, with the lockout and inclement weather after the lockout, we are continuing to complete the project in a timely manner.” MDOT spokesman Jeff Cranson said state inspectors perform quality assurance on all contractor efforts throughout a project. “So among other things, the inspectors will ensure the heating and housing is correct,” he said. “Ultimately, the contractor is responsible for the work completed, and a job is not accepted until MDOT engineers are confident in the quality.” And so far, Operating Engineers 324 spokesman Dan McKernan said he has not heard any complaints from contractors about corners being cut to get the jobs done. “Certainly, there is frustration from the workers for having to work through the winter when it didn’t have to be this way,” McKernan said. “But I talked to the agent who oversees the road workers, and there haven’t been any complaints. At the end of the day, MDOT oversees everything, and they are very strict.” The American Concrete Institute recommends specific measures in its “Guide to Cold Weather Concreting,” noting that “the necessary degree of protection increases as the ambient temperature decreases.” Cold weather concreting “results in extra costs because of potentially lower worker productivity and additional needed products such as insulating blankets, tarping and heaters.” But it adds that these measures also most likely will allow a project to stay on schedule. Detroit averages highs of 36.1 degrees and lows of 24.1 degrees in December, according to date from the National Weather Service in White Lake Township. Daniel DeGraaf, executive director of the Michigan Concrete Association, said placing heaters is a major element of keeping the ground warm. A hydronic heater is used to heat frozen ground or concrete surfaces by pumping heated fluid through closed-circulation tubing and a heat exchanger. “The ground cannot be frozen when building a road on top of it,” he said. “It can be very expensive.” He presented an analogy. “Imagine running a furnace with the doors and windows wide open,” he said. “Not only do they have to heat the ground, but you can’t go as far with the work as you can on a fall day because you’re limited by how far the equipment can stretch.” Meanwhile, Cranson said state inspectors will hold contractors accountable for the quality of the concrete. “All materials must meet specifications,” Cranson said. “Inspection to ensure specification compliance; and enforcement based on significant research and testing.” But Cranson acknowledged risks when concrete is worked on in the winter. He released details that noted: “The top couple inches (estimated) of the concrete below the exposed surface could potentially act as a sacrificial layer, protecting the inner concrete mass from frost-related structural damage. But, if not protected from the cold weather exposure, this top exposed surface could undergo irreversible damage as it freezes. Over time, this damaged concrete surface will erode and scale away, ultimately resulting in loss of the pavement surface.” Additionally, the details noted, “Placing concrete pavement on a frozen base could result in significant loss in structural support as the base begins to thaw in the spring. As the base freezes, the moisture within it will expand, thus, causing the base to heave up (water expands approximately nine percent in volume as it freezes). When the base thaws, it returns to its original elevation. This will, in turn, take the pavement downward with it. “ Cranson summed up the lengths being taken to ensure quality work on roads during the winter by saying: “Contractors and the MDOT engineers overseeing their work continue to work very hard to ensure a commitment to quality while they also work as quickly as possible to make travel lanes accessible to the public. “It is a difficult balancing act in ideal conditions, let alone in inclement weather. Please keep in mind that the people fixing and building our roads are our sisters, brothers, friends and neighbors.”

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Pilot Flying J has opened Pilot Travel Center in Arlington, Washington. “We’re thrilled to serve the Arlington community and contribute to the local economy with our new travel center,” said Ken Parent, president of Pilot Flying J. “Our goal at Pilot Flying J is to connect people and places with comfort, care and a smile at every stop. Both Arlington residents and those traveling through the Snohomish County area will soon be able to enjoy the convenience and amenities of this Pilot Travel Center.” This Pilot Travel Center offers many amenities, including 12 gasoline fueling positions and seven diesel lanes with high-speed pumps for quicker refueling; PJ Fresh pizza and grab-and-go food offerings prepared on site daily, including salads, sandwiches, burgers, fruit cups and an array of hot and cold snacks;          Pilot’s Best Gourmet Coffees, including bean-to-cup selections and cold brew; Arby’s with a drive-thru; Cinnabon, Western Union; CAT Scale; outdoor seating; and everyday products. The facility offers 78 truck parking spaces and five showers to professional drivers. The new facility at 2430 State Route 530 NE will be Pilot Flying J’s eighth location in Washington, including travel centers, Pilot Express and dealers and it is expected to contribute $5.1 million annually in state and local tax revenues. In addition to the Washington opening, the company said the Flying J in Matthews, Missouri at  (703 State Highway 80) that burned because of a fire in June will re-open Saturday. The store will have a  PJ Fresh featuring PJ Fresh pizza and grab-and-go food offerings prepared on site daily, including salads, sandwiches, burgers, fruit cups and an array of hot and cold snacks; 12 diesel lanes, 12 gasoline fueling positions and 2 RV lanes; 10 showers; a driver’s lounge; a public laundry and 179 parking spaces. The combined network of more than 750 Pilot and Flying J Travel Centers across North America serves more than 1.6 million customers daily. For more information on Pilot Flying J, visit www.pilotflyingj.com.    

By KATHLEEN RONAYNE and JANIE HAR SACRAMENTO, Calif  — California Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed a $1.75 billion plan for housing Thursday and threatened to withhold transportation money from local governments that don’t build their fair share, declaring he’s not playing “small ball” on California’s crisis. The new Democratic governor also proposed spending $500 million for regions to build emergency shelters, navigation centers and other supportive housing to battle the state’s growing number of homeless. “Homelessness is not a local concern in a few big urban centers, it’s not just a regional concern in urban metros, it is a statewide concern,” Newsom said. “Everybody has an obligation to step up and step in and do their job.” Newsom announced his plans as part of a $144 billion state budget proposal, his first major spending plan as governor. Legislators still have a say over the budget, which must be finalized by June. Newsom is a former mayor of San Francisco, and he acknowledged that local leaders might not like the strings he’s attached to the housing budget. For example, the governor wants to tie transportation money from a recent hike in gas and vehicle taxes to more affordable housing. “To me, transportation is housing, housing is transportation,” he said, adding that if local governments are “not hitting your goals, I don’t know why you’re getting the money.” California is in the throes of a housing crisis, with far fewer units than needed to house the state’s nearly 40 million people and rising rents. Newsom wants to build 3.5 million new units, saying past goals weren’t ambitious enough. When housing is taken into account, California has the nation’s highest poverty rate, and it also has more homeless people than any other state. The Democratic mayors of San Francisco and Los Angeles, both cities dealing with visible homeless populations and high rents, welcomed leadership from the state. Mayors of larger cities have pleaded for help from Sacramento as they absorb fallout from the housing shortage. But Darby Kernan of the California State Association of Counties said tying gas and vehicle fee hikes to housing money isn’t the right idea. Opponents of the fee hikes tried unsuccessfully to repeal them last November, and Kernan said her organization doesn’t want to give the public a reason to question the tax hike. She also said withholding money from counties isn’t fair. “We can do all of the steps there are to plan for units, but we don’t build the units,” she said” “That is private industry, and so threatening to withhold our critical transportation dollars for something we don’t actually do, that is concerning.” Newsom also said he wants to streamline the review process for new homeless shelters under the California Environmental Quality Act, noting that the Legislature will waive the act’s requirements for flashier projects such as sports stadiums. Reforming the massive environmental law is a tricky political topic that Newsom’s indicated he wants to engage on. “I know it’s also controversial, but seriously, if you can create CEQA waivers to expedite stadium projects, and we do all the time, we sure as hell should be able to do that for 130,000 souls that are out on the damn streets and sidewalks in this state,” he said. Kathryn Phillips, director of Sierra Club California, said the organization generally opposes “jamming” reviews through the court system. But she said that addressing homelessness doesn’t have the “luxury of time” that building a new sports stadium has. The issues of housing and homelessness are deeply related in an expensive state where two-thirds of renters pay more than $1,500 a month for shelter, says Paul Tepper, executive director of the Western Center on Law And Poverty, which works on behalf of poor Californians. In San Francisco and other similarly pricey California cities, renters can easily pay more than $3,000 a month for a one-bedroom apartment. Some low-wage workers sleep in their cars or mobile homes because they can’t afford anything near work. “There is this enormous need for housing, and it is particularly acute for poor people,” Tepper said. Har reported from San Francisco.  

WASHINGTON — Even in the midst of a partial government shutdown, the revolving door keeps on churning. In the latest move, Alan Hanson will replace Cathy F. Gautreaux as deputy administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. And Marianne McInerney, assistant to the Secretary of Transportation and director of public affairs at USDOT is leaving that position. Sources said Gautreaux is taking a new position at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Whether McInerney will remain with the DOT or a DOT agency could not be determined. Hanson has been serving as one of two deputy chiefs of staff at DOT, coming there from the Department of Justice where he was the top Trump administration official at the DOJ’s Office of Justice Programs. He carried the title of acting assistant attorney general. Published reports said Hanson previously served as the general counsel, chief of staff and legislative director for Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., as well as the legislative director for then-Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., and former U.S. Rep. Anne Northup, R-Ky. He also served as deputy of staff and chief counsel for former U.S. Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala. Sources also confirmed that Todd Inman, another deputy chief of staff at DOT is replacing Geoff Burr as chief of staff at the agency. Matt Sturges, the Federal Railroad Administration’s deputy administrator, and Sean McMaster, DOT’s deputy assistant secretary for congressional affairs, will replace Inman and Hanson. As the FMSCA’s second-ranking official, Cathy was principally responsible for overseeing FMCSA’s day-to-day operational programs and activities, which are performed by more than 1,100 employees located in its Washington headquarters, four regional service centers, 52 divisional offices and 31 field units. Prior to joining FMCSA in November 2017, Gautreaux was serving as executive director of the Louisiana Motor Transport Association for more than three decades. She is a past national chairman of the Trucking Associations Executive Council.  

ALBANY, N.Y. — Legalized marijuana, sports betting and new traffic tolls in Manhattan are just some of the measures Democrats believe they can push through the New York Legislature in a 2019 session that begins this week with their party in control of both chambers and the governor’s office for the first time in a decade. Lawmakers swept into office in a backlash against President Donald Trump’s plan to fight back against his policies on immigration, the environment and healthcare, while also seeking to catch up to neighbors such as Massachusetts, which has already legalized marijuana, and New Jersey, which has approved sports betting. Other items on their wish list include expanding state health care programs, codifying protections for abortion rights, reforming antiquated voting laws and eliminating cash bail for criminal defendants. “People will finally get the government they have been voting for for so many years,” predicted Senate Democratic leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, of Yonkers, the first woman to lead a legislative body in New York. First up when lawmakers convened Wednesday may be the Child Victims Act, a long-debated bill that would extend the statute of limitations for child molestation and create a one-year window for victims to sue over old abuse claims now barred by the statute of limitations. The measure has repeatedly passed the state Assembly only to be blocked by the Senate’s Republican leaders under pressure from the Roman Catholic Church. Cuomo wants to include marijuana legalization in the state budget, due by April 1, a remarkably short time frame for such a complicated issue. Regardless of what form legalization may take, many lawmakers want a phased-in approach similar to the one adopted in Massachusetts, where personal possession and cultivation of marijuana were legalized long before the first retail shops were allowed to open. Approving new congestion tolls for New York City will be just as politically challenging. Supporters, including environmental groups, transit advocates and even local chambers of commerce, argue that new surcharges on vehicles entering the busiest parts of Manhattan are the best way to discourage driving while raising billions to repair and modernize the city’s subways. Gov. Andrew Cuomo supports the idea. But the details — how high will the toll be, will local commuters and small businesses get a discount? — could undermine the push. Riders and transportation advocates say Albany must find some way to fund subway repairs or else the nation’s largest city will have to live with a system that has fallen far behind its peers in other global cities. “New York City’s subways are falling apart. Service disruptions and frequent delays have become all too common, contributing to what has become a daily nightmare for many of New York City’s riders,” said Jaqi Cohen, of the Stranghangers Campaign, a coalition of subway riders. The six-month session is likely to test Cuomo’s certitude and the sincerity of lawmakers who now have the chance to enact policies they’ve spent years talking about. Last year’s elections sent a wave of new, liberal lawmakers from New York City to Albany, where they may butt heads with Capitol insiders and more moderate lawmakers from the suburbs and upstate. Cuomo may find himself in the middle, forced to balance the ambitions of liberals with the realities of governing a state with 20 million people and a $168 billion budget. And don’t forget the Republicans, who promise to do what they can to force the governing party to the bargaining table. That includes GOP senators still smarting from November’s defeat. “Even though Senate Republicans now make up the minority of this chamber,” said Sen. John Flanagan, the Republican minority leader, “our voice on issues important to hardworking middle-class families will be more critical than ever.”