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The rules are designed not only to improve safety but to maintain the desired speed of the road or highway and reduce delays.

Adding a median that can’t be crossed has reduced crashes by 35 percent, reduced delays by 30 percent and increased capacity by 30 percent, according to agency data. Providing visual cues at driveways or illumination have decreased accidents by 42 percent. And prohibiting on-street parking has increased traffic flow by 30 percent.

But some of those standards are devaluing property and adding burdens to businesses, Edwards and others say.

Edwards cited the example of a property owner who bought land near I-385 and then tried to sell it 10 years later, only to find that access regulations made the property much less valuable.

“When you make rules, I think you need to sit down and realize what the effect is down the road,” he said. “Your property is your property. I understand the safety aspect of this thing about where we put curb cuts. But we’ve got to work it so it works both ways, to cover the safety part and to cover the rights of people who own property.”

Furman said he supports rules for safety but the enforcement is severely limiting access points to certain highways, effectively lowering the value of property.

“It kind of smacks of taking or condemnation without compensation,” he said.

The balance between the need for safety and efficient traffic control and the rights of property owners has been a struggle for decades.

John Walsh, deputy transportation secretary for engineering, said the right of the state to require right-turn access to some types of property has been upheld by the South Carolina Supreme Court.

“We do defend quite a lot of lawsuits where people get injured,” he said. “And those things need to be a part of the discussion.”

Danny Isaac, chairman of the transportation commission, also

Article source: http://feeds.stateline.org/~r/StatelineorgRss-Transportation/~3/2fpw5oC3QB8/Agency-review-road-changes-affect-property

ALBANY — The Thruway Authority will spend $50 million over the next two years to repair the canal system after it was devastated by floodwaters from tropical storms Lee and Irene, according to its capital budget.

Flooding ruined dams and prompted the Erie Canal to close between Vischer Ferry and Amsterdam from September until late last month, when it opened for a brief season-ending stint.

Officials plan to spend $4 million dredging the canal over the section, as well as $14 million for repairs to Locks 7, 8, and 9. The work will begin next year.

The authority plans to spend $1.5 billion on maintenance and other repairs to the highway and canal it operates over the next four years, almost all of it financed with bonds.

Still, the 2012 amount is about $80 million less than last year, Thruway Authority Chairman Howard Milstein noted.

“We are mindful of Governor Cuomo’s historic effort to limit state spending, and although the authority receives no state aid, we intend to follow his lead to control operating costs and limit undue economic hardship on our customers,” Milstein said. “We have cut spending significantly in this budget, and we will restructure our operations to reflect the governor’s call for maximum government efficiency.”

Year-to-year operating costs are down six percent and there are fewer workers on the payroll, the budget shows.

It predicts slight increases in traffic, toll receipts and canal usage next year as the economy recovers.

Article source: http://feeds.stateline.org/~r/StatelineorgRss-Transportation/~3/tpBJNErWDQU/Canal-repairs-to-cost-50M-2401233.php

The trip was aimed at creating more jobs and opportunities in Maryland by strengthening the state’s relationship with India and selling the state as the best place for Indian companies to get a foothold in the American market.

“Without any help at all, there will be jobs that go to other nations,” O’Malley said at a briefing on the recent trip. “That’s why we have to work in order to create jobs here at home from foreign direct investment into Maryland. That’s why we have to work hard in order to open up our markets.”

More than 100 business leaders, educators and state officials participated in the trip that included stops in Hyderabad, Mumbai and New Delhi. The delegation stopped in Qatar on the way and arrived in India on Nov. 28.

“Indian companies are going to expand toward the West and what we want to make sure of in Maryland is that we’re part of that expansion,” said Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker. “This is our chance to import some of those jobs to Maryland and Prince George’s County.”

Two Indian companies announced plans to invest in Maryland, and eight Maryland businesses signed deals with Indian partners during the trip, state officials said. Jasco Nutri Foods entered into an understanding with Bowie-based Chesapeake Investments Group as part of a plan to invest $10 million in a facility on 1,500 acres in Maryland that could generate up to 100 jobs. Jubilant Life Sciences, which already has a drug manufacturing facility in Salisbury, announced plans to spend $20 million to triple its Eastern Shore warehouse space and add new jobs.

The presence of state and county officials on the trip made a difference in the message the delegation was sending, showing that businesses have the backing of their local officials, said Manish Kothari, president of Rockville-based Sheladia Associates. His architectural engineering firm signed a $3.7 million contract to design 100 miles of highway in the state of Orissa during the trip.

“We always come across competition from Europeans and other folks who have elected officials coming supporting businesses. In spite of the United States being a

Article source: http://feeds.stateline.org/~r/StatelineorgRss-Transportation/~3/ZKFHRVMUzIw/OMalley-60M-in-deals-signed-on-India-trip.html

WASHINGTON — A dream team of entrepreneurs announced plans on Tuesday to build the biggest aircraft in history as a way to launch crew and cargo into space — with flights possibly launching from Kennedy Space Center by the end of the decade.

Organized under the name Stratolaunch Systems, the new effort includes luminaries such as Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, SpaceShipOne designer Burt Rutan, SpaceX head Elon Musk and former NASA chief Mike Griffin.

The group aims to manufacture a massive aircraft — about twice the size of a 747 with a wingspan of 385 feet — that would carry a missile-like capsule into the atmosphere. Once high enough, the plane would drop the missile, which then would blast itself into orbit with whatever cargo or crew it would be carrying.

• Related

• 

  NASA set to launch big new Mars rover nicknamed ‘Curiosity’

• 

  KSC to get as much as $484 million in construction money

• NASA budget cuts could delay new jobs at KSC

• Article source: http://feeds.stateline.org/~r/StatelineorgRss-Transportation/~3/rdA2Us1luvY/os-massive-space-plane-20111213,0,1486673.story

Experts cite reasons ranging from more drivers on those states’ roads to weather conditions to single-year “blips” that may or may not signal a long-term upward trend.

Road fatalities dropped 2.9% for the nation overall last year, largely because of decreases in big states such as California. But 19 states recorded increases, with the biggest percentage jump in Connecticut, where 42% more people were killed in traffic crashes than the year before, according to new data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

• STORY: Road deaths drop, more pedestrians struck

• STORY: NTSB: Ban cellphones while driving

Traffic safety professionals almost always downplay year-to-year fluctuations and focus on longer-term trends.

“You don’t want to make a big conclusion based on just one year,” says Jonathan Adkins of the Governors Highway Safety Association.

For example, North Dakota saw the biggest percentage drop, with 25% fewer traffic deaths last year than in 2009. But “in a state like North Dakota, (the numbers are) so small you can have one big crash and that affects the totals for the year,” Adkins says. “You need to really look at three to five years to see if there was a trend or if it was a blip.”

Officials in Connecticut say that’s what happened there: Annual traffic fatalities had plummeted 26% from 2008 to 2009 as people drove fewer miles because of the recession, says Kevin Nursick, spokesman for the Connecticut Department of Transportation. “We had an anomalously low year in 2009,” he says. “The economy, unemployment and gas prices were all factors. (Last year) was more of a return to normal.”

In New Hampshire, fatalities went up 16% last year to 128. “We did have some better weather in 2010,” so more people were out and about on the roads, says Peter Thomson, coordinator of the New Hampshire Highway Safety Agency. “That may have been a part of

Article source: http://feeds.stateline.org/~r/StatelineorgRss-Transportation/~3/ECLx1mSHI_U/1

The National Transportation Safety Board recommended Tuesday that drivers be prohibited from using hand-held and portable electronic devices in automobiles, a ban that would include cellphone usage, even with hands-free devices.

Citing increasing accident rates as the motivation, NTSB chairwoman Deborah A.P. Hersman said she realized the recommended ban might be unpopular with the public but added that “no call, no text, no update is worth a human life.”

“This is a difficult recommendation, but it’s the right recommendation and it’s time,” she said.

The NTSB said the only exceptions to the ban would be using a cellphone in emergency situations or GPS navigation devices.

Ten states ban cellphone use in cars. Individual states would have to enact laws to follow the recommendation, but early reactions indicate the movement might have difficulty gaining traction in Colorado.

“I can’t speak for other legislators, but I would have to see the data they’re using to try and support (the recommendation),” said state Rep. Glenn Vaad, R-Mead, chairman of the House Transportation Committee. “I would base any decision to go forward on data, rather than a gut feeling or some anecdotal information.”

Colorado Department of Transportation spokeswoman Stacey Stegman said CDOT supports “extra enforcement of our existing laws,” but “we’re not taking a position on legislation.”

CDOT has given the city of Denver a $39,500 grant to help enforce “distracted driving” laws, she said. Aurora and the Colorado State Patrol will also receive grants in the near future.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, while the number of people killed in traffic accidents has declined overall, the number of people who have died because of “driver distraction” is on the rise.

In 2005, NHTSA said, 10 percent of all traffic fatalities were a result of distracted driving; by 2009, that number had risen to 16 percent. In 2010, the agency said, 3,092 people were killed in the U.S. in such accidents.

Stegman said Colorado has 50 such deaths each year. According to the State Patrol, in 2008 there were almost 5,000 accidents caused by “inattentiveness to driving.” Of those, there were 33 fatalities.

Colorado is one of

Article source: http://feeds.stateline.org/~r/StatelineorgRss-Transportation/~3/TRFfxhasrLU/ci_19542408

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Article source: http://feeds.stateline.org/~r/StatelineorgRss-Transportation/~3/m58FJ8MoOsk/california-high-speed-rail-going-without-statewide-pr-contract-for-now.html

Arizona voters could get to decide next year if they want to be
able to gamble closer to home.

An initiative petition drive launched late last week would allow
private corporations to set up full-blown casinos in the state’s
major cities. The measure also would separately permit casino
gaming at racetracks.

Initiative organizer Carl Nicholson said he already has promises
of financial backing for the plan from what he said are some of the
major players in gaming in nearby Nevada. He would not provide
names; funding sources for ballot measures legally do not have to
be made public until next summer.

But Nicholson said they have a good reason to back the plan: If
approved, he said those who put up the cash would have first crack
at getting the required state licenses.

He needs 172,809 valid signatures on petitions by July 5 to put
the issue before voters next November.

Nicholson acknowledged that voters rejected off-reservation
gaming nearly a decade ago, defeating a measure in 2002 to let the
tracks have gaming machines.

Instead, voters adopted a plan to give tribes the exclusive
right to operate casinos in exchange for a share of the
profits.

Nicholson said, though, this plan would provide a better
financial deal for the state. He said companies and tracks would
pay twice as much in profits to the state than is now required of
tribes.

If approved, the measure would not permit anyone to open a
casino anywhere they wanted.

Aside from the gaming operations at tracks, Phoenix and Bullhead
City each could have two casinos, with one each in Apache Junction,
Lake Havasu City, Mesa, Scottsdale, Tucson and Yuma. There also
could be a single casino located somewhere in Avondale, Goodyear or
Litchfield Park.

He said cities would not have the power to reject a casino. But
Nicholson said communities would not want to, as they would share
in the revenues.

Article source: http://feeds.stateline.org/~r/StatelineorgRss-Transportation/~3/Ny8lDRF7ybc/article_af6ed9d8-25e5-11e1-afb6-0019bb2963f4.html