new tollroad

The Trinity tollroad will be delayed at least 20 months with more work needed to evaluate the Trinity River flood levees on which it is planned to be constructed.  The US Army Corps of Engineers said recently it couldn't approve construction on the river levees without some 1500 bore samples being taken and remediation to allow the levees to withstand an 800-year flood event.

Orlando Orange County Expressway Authority (OOCEA) has done a partial opening of their fifth tollroad. Saturday Feb 14 they cut the ribbon on TOLL-414 and about two-thirds of its length is open to motorists with Florida transponders.

New Zealand has had toll bridges but until now no modern toll road ('pike is our slang). That changes Jan 25 when a Northern Gateway Toll Road (NGTR) opens on NZ1 (State Highway 1) north of Auckland, the South Pacific country's major metro area. Just 7.5km (4.7 miles) long.

US Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez today sided with radical environmentalists in southern California rejecting the alignment for the 241 Foothill South (CA241) tollroad that has been supported by USDOT, USEPA, US Fish and Wildlife Service, as well as by the state of California and local governments in the area as well as the local public Foothill/Eastern toll

A six month old public toll highway authority is just a few weeks away from issuing a request for expressions of interest for a toll concession for the design, finance, construction and operations of Jefferson Parkway a 20km (13 mile) tollroad northwest of Denver. The Jefferson Parkway is a missing link in the '470 beltway' around the Denver area. It will go from CO128 in Broomfield to CO93 at W58Av north of Golden (see map nearby.)

With the prospect looming of a federal coastal permit for the Foothill South tollroad in southern Orange County California a native American group has cut a deal with The Toll Roads. David Bedares head of one Juaneno tribe with burial grounds and other tribal interest in parts of the tollroad corridor has signed a settlement agreement under which The Toll Roads will provide $350k compensation in return for acceptance of the tollroad.

North Carolina Turnpike Authority (NCTA) announced its first toll rates - a base toll of 13.5c/mile (8.4c/km) for cars using transponders. The tolling on the Triangle Expressway in the western area of Raleigh is due to begin in December 2010.

The long running dispute over completing the CA241 Foothill Toll Road with the 26km (16 mile) Foothill South extension goes to the California Coastal Commission Wednesday Feb 6.

A small portion of the Transportation Corridors Agencies tollroad where it meets I-5 comes within the jurisdiction of the Commission because it is within a coastal zone.

Florida DOT has the America's largest private toll concession on the go with a request for qualifications (RFQ) for investor groups to finance, design, build, operate, maintain and toll a 74km (46 mile) $2.2b highway on the southwest edge of the Jacksonville area. The project involves a long river crossing, 14 interchanges and ten more overpasses. Called the First Coast Outer Beltway (FCOB) the project is a consolidation of two earlier projects:

There's a potential east-west tollroad of 80km (50 miles) between Palmdale and Victorville in the high desert country just over the mountains north of Los Angeles. A Request for Proposals (RFP) has been issued by the High Desert Corridor Joint Powers Authority, an agency of San Bernardino and Los Angeles Counties within whose jurisdiction the proposed corridor lies. The authority was formed about a year ago to develop the highway.

The local metro plan organization in San Antonio voted 12 to 4 (1 abstaining) Monday (Dec 3) to approve construction of the first toll project in Texas third city. Approved were the business terms for a toll upgrade of US281 and the use of state funds for the project. This is a major victory for mobility because a vociferous and fanatical anti-roads/anti-toll group has been active trying to stop everything.

A TxDOT letter formally requesting detailed proposals asks Trans Texas Corridor 69 bidders to focus on upgrade to interstate expressway standard of US77 in the far south of corridor.

Texas DOT Turnpike division chief Phil Russell says that the Trans Texas Corridor 69 (TTC69) will offer opportunities for both public authority style tolling and private lease concessions. He says the decision announced last week to look first at upgrading existing routes is "no different" from the approach taken on TTC35. The difference of the second TTC, he says, is only in the nature of development along the route.

The South Bay Expressway (SBE) in the eastern part of the San Diego area opened Monday (Nov 19) after ceremonies the prior Friday. The tollroad 15km (9.3mi) long has had what is described in local reports as "light to moderate" traffic this week. Forecasts have been that average daily traffic will settle early in the range 30k to 40k.

The Orlando Sentinel quotes top officials of the Orlando Orange County (Toll) Expressway Authority (OOCEA or Orlando Toll) as saying they are working on new plans for the Wekiva Parkway, a $2b 40km (25mi) highway in the northwest of the metro area, which would close the last gap in a belt route and, with a spur, make for the beginnings of an expressway west.

The Sentinel quotes OOCEA chairman and Orlando County mayor Rich Crotty: "Closing the loop is critical."

Governor Rod Blagojevich amid lots of hoopla cut the ribbon for the $730m 20km (12.5 mile) extension of the I-355 Tollway in the southwestern part of the greater Chicago area today. Now officially named the Veterans Memorial Tollway the I-355 used to be called the North-South Tollway. There were bicycle rides, walks, a musical tribute to veterans, and of course speeches.

George Washington, Ho Chi Minh, Charles de Gaulle and Churchill all knew it for war and politics. And for roads Kent Olsen and Michael Schneider of Parsons Brinkerhoff and then Greg Hulsizer with Macquarie at the South Bay Expressway.

Tenacity, sticking at it, staying there fighting, and surviving after your opponents have wearied is often the key to success.

Three Florida agencies have agreed on a cost sharing plan for the $600m Connector roadways in the Ybor City area between the I-4 and the Selmon Crosstown Expressway in Tampa. The Tampa Hillsborough (Toll) Expressway Authority will contribute $45m to construction costs and Florida's Turnpike Enterprise $80m, while the Florida DOT will put in $475m.

Maryland State Highway Administrator (MdSHA) has given contractors the OK to start construction work on the first part of the 30km (18.8mi) long $2.4b InterCounty Connector (ICC) tollroad. The ICC is an east-west connector mainly located in Montgomery County about 10km (6 miles) north of the Beltway (I-495) and about 23km (14 miles) north of the White House.

Dallas North Tollway Phase 3 extension running from SH121 to US380 will open to traffic Sept 28, North Texas Tollway Authority say. 3+3 main lanes the new pike is 15.5km (9.6mi) long and is costing $264m. Landowners keen to get the road donated 95% of the right of way.

At 93 lane-km (57.6) lane-miles the project cost is $2.85m/lane-km ($4.58m/lane-mile).