Blog | Page 31

The catastrophic collapse yesterday of a worn down, 40-year-old, 1,900-foot-long bridge with a single steel arch at its center, spanning Interstate 35W across the Mississippi River in Minneapolis had as of this morning resulted in four deaths, up to 30 people unaccounted for, and at least 79 more injured – some quite severely. The fatality toll is likely to grow. Very recent maintenance work on the bridge had focused on joints, lights and guardrails, and resurfacing work was being done on it when it failed. The cause of the collapse is unknown and will remain so until an investigation is completed. However, it can come as little comfort that, as the Associated Press notes in a report today from Minneapolis, Read More ›

The New York State legislature has taken the first step toward the possible implementation of congestion pricing in Manhattan by voting to establish a “New York City Traffic Congestion Mitigation Commission.” The bill establishes a rigorous timeline for the development, review and approval of a preliminary traffic mitigation plan advocated by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, which would charge drivers entering Manhattan south of 86th Street an $8 toll between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. on weekdays, with much of the proceeds going to fund transit improvements. Under the new legislation, April 1, 2008 is the target date to give the City the green light to proceed with implementation of the traffic mitigation plan. The vote was 122-16 in Read More ›

In an Oregonian op-ed titled “The Ready River Of Transit At Our Core,” sustainable developer Peter Wilcox argues for the innate feasibility of an urban water bus system connecting otherwise disparate communities along the landmark Willamette River, a major north-south regional artery. As in the Seattle region, where supporters of an expanded regional passenger-only ferry network met recently to plot next steps, the water in Portland seems a natural piece of transit infrastructure waiting to be more fully developed. Wilcox writes: What would Portland look like if we made the incredible Willamette River our most visible and sustainable public transportation mode? Talk about disparate parts getting connected. Talk about opportunities for many more carless trips….It has long puzzled me that Read More ›

A new study issued by the Electric Power Research Institute and the Natural Resources Defense Council reports that adoption of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles by consumers and fleet managers could by 2050 cut U.S. carbon dioxide emissions by 163 to 612 million metric tons, and total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 3.4 to 10.3 billion metric tons. How much of a difference would that really make? MIT Technology Review assesses the study’s findings this way: The study shows that if plug-in hybrids are adopted widely in the United States, and if measures are taken to clean up power plants, by 2050, plug-in hybrids could reduce carbon-dioxide emissions by 612 million metric tons, or roughly 5 percent of the total U.S. Read More ›

The Columbian reports this morning that an affiliate of a Swedish-Norwegian shipping concern has announced its preliminary intent to build a big vehicle import center as part of the Port of Vancouver, Washington’s Columbia Gateway industrial development. On Tuesday, port officials signed a letter of intent with Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics Americas to develop the $453 million facility that would dwarf the port’s existing Subaru operation and match the Port of Portland’s auto business. Wallenius Wilhelmsen would build a marine terminal and processing facility on 344 acres that the port would make construction-ready, according to the deal. The facility, projected to generate a $62 million annual payroll, could be operational by late 2010 or 2011. …the facility will be able to Read More ›

We’ve already mentioned the 50 km tunnel for $3.5 billion that the Swiss voted to build. I wondered: the Swiss are building some fantastic tunnel in the Alps (see Matt’s 6/11 post)… but they’re Swiss. Surely they must be crazy.
As it turns out, their costs are not unusual for transportation infrastructure projects in developed countries. A random grab-bag since 1994:
English Channel Tunnel
Cost: 9 billion pounds (US $14 billion)
Length: 50 km (31 miles)
Cost per mile: $451 mil
Cooper River Bridge, SC, longest cable-stay bridge in America
Cost: $531 million
Length: 2.5 miles
Cost per mile: $212 mil
Woodrow Wilson Bridge, Washington DC
Cost: $2.4 billion
Length: 1.1 miles
Cost per mile: $2.2 bil
Daily Commuters: 200,000 (twice the capacity for the same price as ours)
Millau Viaduct, France
Cost: $394 million
The builders, Eiffage, financed the construction in return for a concession to collect the tolls for 75 years, until 2080. However, if the concession is very profitable, the French government can assume control of the bridge in 2044.
Length: 1.5 miles
Cost per mile: $262 mil
Sydney Harbor Tunnel, Australia
Cost: A$ 554 mil
Built by a private partnership, the tunnel is currently on a thirty-year lease, and will be handed back to the State Government in August 2022.
Length: 1.4 miles
Cost per mile: A$ 395 mil

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This Monday July 2, our Cascadia Center For Regional Development hosted a jam-packed forum in West Seattle for stakeholders to discuss next steps toward funding an expanded system of passenger-only ferries on Puget Sound and Lake Washington. This would embody a modern-day return of the region’s old “Mosquito Fleet” of foot ferries; providing today’s commuters and others with expanded transit options in a region facing increasingly congested roads and steets, and major population growth in coming decades. Cascadia Center’s Director Bruce Agnew moderated the panel discussion featuring presentations by members of the Puget Sound Passenger Ferry Coalition. Among those speaking were King County Council members Dow Constantine and Julia Patterson. KIRO 7 TV and KING-5 TV were among media reporting. Read More ›

By a vote 27 to 10, the North Texas Regional Transportation Council (RTC) recommended that the 26-mile SH 121 toll road project be awarded to the public North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA) rather than to the private consortium of Cintra-JP Morgan Asset Management. The latter bidder had won the award in a competitive procurement process earlier this year. The RTC decision has been widely condemned by the transportation community as wrong on substantive as well as fairness grounds. (See, for example, “A Tale of Two Texas Roads,” by Robert Poole of the Reason Foundation). A formal decision is up to the Texas Transportation Commission (TTC) which will vote on the RTC recommendation June 28. The Commission will be faced with Read More ›

Ordinarily the National Governors Association (NGA) does not take a public position on statements made by individual congressional lawmakers. But, concerned about future transportation funding options, the NGA broke that rule recently to respond to a much-noticed warning from U.S. Rep. James Oberstar (D-MN) and U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) against entering into public-private partnerships (PPPs), in which the legislators threatened to “undo” PPP agreements that did not conform to their conception of “the public interest.” In a June 15 response to the congressmen, NGA chair Gov, Janet Napolitano (D-AZ), NGA Vice Chair Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-MN), were joined by Gov. Dave Heineman (R-NE) and Jennifer Granholm (D-MI), chair and vice chair respectively of NGA’s Economic Development and Commerce Committee. Read More ›

The San Jose Mercury News carries the full Associated Press story on the recent opening of the 21-mile Loetschberg Base Tunnel. Billed as the world’s longest land tunnel, it is a trainway built through the Alps to ease road congestion and deliver skiers twice as quickly from south of Bern to the gateway town of Visp near the Zermatt and Gourmayeur ski regions of Switzerland and Italy, respectively. The tunnel’s cost in U.S. dollars: $3.5 billion. Passenger trains will reach speeds of 150 miles per hour in the tunnel; freight trains 100 mph. BBC reports the tunnel will eventually handle up to 42 passenger trains and 80 frieght trains per day. A picture of the tunnel’s construction is below, right. Read More ›