Infrastructure in the News: January 11, 2012
BAF IN THE NEWS
The Hill: Infrastructure group launching ad in South Carolina
After the New Hampshire primary results come in Tuesday night, the Republican candidates for president are heading to South Carolina, and so is a Washington-based lobbying campaign to increase transportation spending. The Building America's Future Education Fund said Tuesday that it would air a 30-second political ad that had been running in New Hampshire since December 2011 in the next state on the primary calendar, South Carolina. The Palmetto State, which will also see an onslaught of advertising from the candidates, votes Jan. 21.
Politico Morning Transportation: 2012 and infrastructure
http://www.politico.com/morningtransportation/
Building America's Future has a compilation of news stories on the GOP candidates and transportation. Check it out: http://bit.ly/ArxaYG They also have an infrastructure ad running in South Carolina though Jan. 16. Watch it here: http://youtu.be/3k0yXlK-T8g
Associated Press: Group tries to draw road building interest in ads
With White House candidates heading to South Carolina outside groups are vying to voters to pay attention issues too. Building America's Future said Monday it would be spend about $75,000 on television and radio ads around the state in the days leading up to South Carolina's Jan. 21 primary to talk up the need for fixing roads, bridges and ports.
WOLO-ABC - Columbia, SC: Infrastructure ads in South Carolina
and fixing south carolina's roads, bridges, and ports will be the focus of television and radio ads leading up to the state's january 21st gop primary. building america's future says it will spend about 75 thousand dollars to hammer the point home. the ad features a husband and wife driving down a road with potholes. the group says the gop candidates would support more infrastructure money if the proper reforms are in place.
IFW-net: US port infrastructure only ranked 22nd in the world, claim
A coalition of elected officials, Building America’s Future Educational Fund (BAF), and the Jacksonville, Florida, Chamber of Commerce, the JAX Chamber, co-hosted a policy forum to highlight the need for more port infrastructure investment across the US. Former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, a BAF co-chair, told IFW: “Other countries understand that port innovation and capacity is key to competitiveness in an export-driven economy.
NATIONAL NEWS
DC Streetsblog: Report Maps Out How New Transit Can Benefit Disadvantaged Communities
Last fall, Streetsblog reported on the complex relationship between economically disadvantaged neighborhoods and the transit-oriented development projects intended to revitalize them. Often, the same people who stand to gain the most quality-of-life benefits from new transit also face the greatest risk of being displaced by the rising property values associated with TOD.
Streetsblog Network: The Design Tragedies That Pass for Road “Improvements”
http://streetsblog.net/2012/01/10/the-design-tragedies-that-pass-for-road-improvements/
Let’s say a cash-strapped city invests a quarter of a million dollars to speed traffic on a road. But those precious local resources would only serve to make the road more dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists — and might even lengthen wait times for people in cars. You might call it crazy. But in old-school transportation engineering circles, they call things like that “improvements” or “upgrades.”
STATE NEWS
KQED (CA): The Whip Snaps at High Speed Rail... and More
http://blogs.kqed.org/capitalnotes/2012/01/09/the-whip-snaps-at-high-speed-rail-and-more/
For the man whose Central Valley hometown is supposed to be an anchor point in the first construction phase of high speed rail, Rep. Kevin McCarthy seems intent on doing everything he can do block the project. And given McCarthy is the third highest ranking member of the GOP congressional leadership, he may be able to do a lot.
The Tribune: Northern Colorado gets green light on highway improvements
http://www.greeleytribune.com/article/20120110/NEWS/701109995/1002&parentprofile=1001
The state Department of Transportation has been given the green light to make more than $2 billion worth of improvements to northern Colorado’s transportation systems. Design for adding lanes on Interstate 25 from Fort Collins to Windsor, are among the more immediate plans, however. The decision means northern Colorado roadways could see additional lanes, including a high occupancy vehicle lane along Interstate 25, intersection upgrades, commuter rail and mass transit in the next several years.
Des Moines Register: New Des Moines metro transit hub now a busy construction site
The new DART Central Station on Cherry Street in Des Moines has begun taking shape in recent weeks as steel beams for the framework of the $20.5 million bus transfer station are moved into place. The two-story building, which is being constructed by Weitz Co. with federal, state and local funding, is slated to be the new hub for downtown metro transit activity when it opens in November.
WCSC: Council votes to send I-526 project to SCDOT
http://www.live5news.com/story/16489192/526-debate-charlestoon
The Charleston County Council voted Tuesday night to hand over the completion of the Interstate 526 project to the South Carolina Department of Transportation. The State Infrastructure Bank decided that taking the extension project from the county would be the best way to extend the interstate to John's Island. Officials said if the project is turned over to the state, the county will not have to pay back the $12 million borrowed from the state for the project.
Transportation Issues Daily: WA Governor’s Transportation Improvement Proposal Gets Mixed Reaction
On Monday Washington State Governor Chris Gregoire announced a $3.6 billion proposal to address the state’s transportation maintenance and preservation needs over the next ten years. The proposal is funded from a $1.50-a-barrel fee on oil produced in Washington State; a $100 fee on electric vehicles; a 15-percent increase in license fees for heavy commercial vehicles; and a $15 weight fee on passenger vehicles. It also increases local taxing and fee-setting options for cities and counties to raise money for roads and transit without going to a public vote.
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President Barack Obama, January 24, 2012 Get The Facts
“There’s never been a better time to build….”
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Louisiana
Cedric Glover
Mayor, Shreveport
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