PennDOT June Letting Report
PennDOT continued its 2018 construction letting season by issuing just over $283 million in projects in June, bringing the year-to-date total to just over $1 billion according to numbers compiled by the Associated Pennsylvania Constructors (APC). PennDOT finished 2017 with just over $2.578 billion in project lettings. PennDOT forecasted the 2017 letting program to be $2.4 billion and they anticipate the same for 2018.
As in year’s past, PHIA will continue to track contract lettings on a monthly basis.
To view the full June letting report and year comparisons, click the link below.
*The report lists the total contracts awarded at each letting date, a comparison to the same period in the previous calendar year, and letting adjustments made since the previous month. PHIA staff will track PennDOT lettings throughout the year and provide monthly update.
PHIA News Digest – Vol. 3, No. 25
Experts say a regional approach is essential for tackling freight transportation
As construction of warehouses and distribution centers continues to increase throughout the region, the challenges of transporting all that freight continue to rise in importance.
PennDOT secretary addresses local freight issues at summit
PennDOT Secretary Leslie Richards reviewed steps Gov. Tom Wolf’s office has taken to address freight-related challenges at the first in-the-state summit.
To combat potholes, cities turn to technology
In a growing number of cities, including Omaha, Nebraska; Hartford, Connecticut; and San Diego, residents can download an app for reporting potholes. In Houston, residents can check out the Pothole Tracker app or log on to a website and see graphics and charts showing the city’s progress in fixing them.
How the Koch brothers are killing public transit projects around the country
In cities and counties across the country — including Little Rock, Ark.; Phoenix, Ariz.; southeast Michigan; central Utah; and here in Tennessee — the Koch brothers are fueling a fight against public transit, an offshoot of their longstanding national crusade for lower taxes and smaller government.
OOIDA seeks class action status for Pennsylvania toll lawsuit
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and the National Motorists Association are asking a federal court to grant class action status to their lawsuit against the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. If granted, more than 100,000 motorists could be potential class members in a lawsuit that challenges the constitutionality of “excessive” toll increases on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
New buses running on natural gas
This morning Amtran introduced five new compressed natural gas buses. They held a special ribbon-cutting and dedication ceremony at their operation center on Fifth Avenue in Altoona.
House, Senate to try once more to advance automated speed enforcement bill
The reasons for the General Assembly to pass an automated speed enforcement bill are compelling:
- Across the country, an average of 14 motorists and 2 highway workers are killed in work zones every week.
- The number of work zone crashes is increasing – by 42 percent since 2013.
- The rate of fatal crashes in work zones is greater than fatal crashes elsewhere.
- Automated speed enforcement is proven to work. Once Maryland drivers became accustomed to that state’s program, the proportion of drivers exceeding the posted speed limit by at least 12 miles an hour dropped from 7 percent to less than 1 percent.
- The right to be safe in a work zone – for travelers and construction workers alike – is more important than the right to not be photographed while breaking the law and putting lives at risk.
“There have been numerous opinions about what should and should not be in the bill,” said PHIA Managing Director Jason Wagner. “As House and Senate members come together once more to iron out their differences, we urge them to look at those differences through the lens of what would make work zones safer for both travelers and workers. Maryland has shown that it can be done.”
Associated Pennsylvania Constructors recently developed a fact sheet outlining why automated speed enforcement makes sense. To view it, click here.
PHIA mourns the loss of Senator Roger Madigan
Our thoughts this morning are with the family of former state Sen. Roger Madigan, who passed away on Saturday at the age of 88. Senator Madigan, of Luthers Mills and Harrisburg, served as chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee for many years and was a 2008 recipient of PHIA’s Transportation Advocate of the Year Award. His public service had a lasting positive impact on Pennsylvania and its residents. Funeral arrangements will be announced and are under the direction of the Gerald W. Vickery, Jr. Funeral & Cremation Services, Inc. 1093 West Main Street, Troy, PA 16947.
“Senator Madigan’s contributions to transportation in the Commonwealth are immeasurable,” said PHIA managing director Jason Wagner. “The Senator was one of the finest gentlemen PHIA has ever worked with in the General Assembly. He will be sorely missed and PHIA extends our deepest sympathies to his family during this time.”
PHIA News Digest – Vol. 3, No. 20
Trillium opens its third public CNG location in Lawrence County
Trillium, along with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and New Castle Transit Authority celebrated the opening of the commonwealth’s newest compressed natural gas fueling station in New Castle.
Transit leaders: Lack of funding leads to negative economic consequences
A new report released by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) warns that decades of under-investment has had a negative effect on the economy, resulting in lost jobs and declining business revenue.
Bikes vs. cars vs. pedestrians: How Philly can win the transportation culture war
What can be done to prevent tragedies like the loss of Pablo Avendano and the nearly hundred other individuals who die on Philadelphia’s streets and sidewalks each year?
Congress needs to pass a bill to fix transportation and infrastructure: Ray LaHood
Former Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and former Governor of Pennsylvania Ed Rendell discuss what the government needs to do to rebuild and modernize infrastructure in the United States.
Failure to restore and modernize U.S. public transit results in a loss of $340 billion
Decades of under investment in America’s aging bus and rail public transit infrastructure has a negative effect on business revenue, and results in lost jobs and wages, according to a new study from the American Public Transportation Association.
PA Turnpike cracks down on $17 million in unpaid tolls
The Turnpike Commission has launched the first 19 criminal prosecutions against drivers across the state who have failed to pay.
