Mississippi

[berberry]

Yes, that is the change I was talking about, froggie.  That change meant considerable differences for the interchange, which before was entirely absent of left turns.

[froggie]

Depends on how you define that northern ramp intersection where the westbound US 80 ramps meet State St.  The postcard suggests a veering V-intersection, whereas the pavement condition as of a few years ago suggests the existing T-intersection was the original intersection.

[cjk374]

Another change is that the railroad underneath US 80 is abandoned.  I used that intersection earlier this year and noticed the rotten wood trestle and tracks are still there.

[Grzrd]

Other Task Force documents can be found here.

The presentation put out by MDOT enumerating needs is just another way of drumming up support for funding  in the Mississippi Legislature. Frankly I smell a tax increase in the works.

The Task Force recently issued a Status Report to the SR 7 Study Committee.  It discusses several different types of tax alternatives.

[richllewis]

There was a Report on the WLBT 10 PM Report that said that MDOT was getting two grants concerning the I-20 Bridge across the Mississippi River at Vicksburg. They are thinking about installing Radar along the I-20 bridge to ward off Tow Boat and Barge accidents near the I-20 bridge across the Mississippi River and another Grant for Jacking up the I-20 Bridge across the Mississippi River.

[brownpelican]

Designs for the new Popps Ferry Road bridge over the Back Bay of Biloxi have changed. Instead of a drawbridge, designs call for a high rise 95 feet above the water. It also means more than 75 parcels of land will be needed. The cost? $100 million plus, which hasn't been found yet.

http://www.wlox.com/story/24245047/engineers-change-design-of-the-new-popps-ferry-bridge?utm_content=buffer6435e&utm_source=buffer&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=Buffer

[Grzrd]

In this September 10 guest column,  Dick Hall, transportation commissioner of the Central District for the state of Mississippi ... :

the cost of highway construction has increased 300 percent while the revenue available to cover this cost has only increased 30 percent.
I don't care what kind of business you are trying to run.  Those numbers won't work.

(above quote from I-69 in MS thread)

The Mississippi Legislature's PEER Committee recently reviewed MDOT's operations and basically concluded that it is well run and really does need more money to properly do its job.

Executive Summary: http://www.peer.state.ms.us/581.html
Full text: http://www.peer.state.ms.us/reports/rpt581.pdf

This article about the report includes some comments about it from Dick Hall:

Supporters of raising taxes for roads and bridges say a legislative watchdog's report on the Mississippi Department of Transportation doesn't change their tack.
"I don't see any zingers in it,"  said Central District Transportation Commissioner Dick Hall. "In an operation with 3,500 employees and a $1 billion budget, there's always going to be some room for improvement. But I didn't see anything that says it's being mismanaged."
The report by the PEER Committee says MDOT could make improvements in efficiency and transparency, but agrees the agency needs more money to keep roadways from crumbling.
Hall and others have said the state needs more money to fix and maintain roads and that the situation is becoming dire. But Gov. Phil Bryant and lawmakers, particularly the GOP legislative leadership, are opposed to raising taxes. Some have questioned whether MDOT is being run efficiently.
"Nothing in the report surprised me,"  said House Transportation Chairman Robert L. Johnson III, D-Natchez. "What I was most apprehensive about, the complaint you most often hear, is that MDOT is not transparent and doesn't do a fair job in prioritizing projects. PEER showed it's not as bad as some people make it out. They validated the assertion that we need more money for roads. ... And now, MDOT is an open book, one less thing to explain."

[Grzrd]

The Task Force recently issued a Status Report to the SR 7 Study Committee.  It discusses several different types of tax alternatives.

This article reports that the Task Force will present its findings to the Legislature in approximately two weeks, but it is already looking like they will have a difficult time persuading legislators:

Media reports speculate the Senate Highways and Transportation Special Committee recommendations for funding road and bridge maintenance will wind up in the circular file almost as soon as the chair of the Senate Highway Appropriations Committee presents them.
The chairman, Cleveland Democratic Sen. Willie Simmons, has read the news reports that the six months of effort by his task force of lawmakers and business leaders with a stake in the transportation issue has already fizzled out. He's not saying the reports are incorrect, but he insists the special committee is quite serious about getting something done on road and bridge maintenance.
"I can say there is not a lot of support in the Capitol for raising taxes,"  he said in an interview at the start of the 2014 legislative session. But the committee is "not going to accept failure at this point and say nothing is going to be done."
Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, the traffic cop for Senate legislation, has said he is willing to consider putting transportation maintenance in a bond bill but won't accept consideration of new fees or taxes, including changing the 18.5 cents a gallon gas tax that has been in place since 1987.
The bond bill, which would also have to cover other pressing state needs, must come in at $200 million or below to get Reeves' support.
Simmons said it will be at least a couple of more weeks before the transportation panel presents its report. One key conclusion, however, is that no single tax or fee will be sufficient for meeting the state's estimated $500 million backlog in current road and bridge upkeep needs. Nor would a single source be enough to cover future needs beyond the current deficit, Simmons said.

Farmers and poultry processors would like to follow the recent Arkansas example of raising the sales tax:

The heads of two key stakeholder groups – farmers and poultry processors – say they would look favorably at following the example of Arkansas solution for catching up with unmet road and bridge maintenance. The neighboring state's voters in November approved a decade-long half-cent sales tax with exemptions for groceries and drugs.
Arkansas' half-cent sales tax is appealing because "it kind of gets everybody,"  Randy Knight, president of the Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation, said in an interview late last year.

[richllewis]

I can see that to fund highways is going to be a political hot potato.

[froggie]

In short, if they refuse to do anything about the funding, then road improvements must not be a priority of the state Legislature...

[berberry]

There is ONE priority and one priority only in the Mississippi legislature, and it has absolutely nothing to do with road improvements.  The ONLY priority is to defy the federal government.  Legislators are far more pre-occupied with finding ways to nullify certain federal laws in the state.  They don't care about highways.

[codyg1985]

There is ONE priority and one priority only in the Mississippi legislature, and it has absolutely nothing to do with road improvements.  The ONLY priority is to defy the federal government.  Legislators are far more pre-occupied with finding ways to nullify certain federal laws in the state.  They don't care about highways.

Same thing with Alabama. Our Governor made it clear in his State of the State address last week. The city of Huntsville had to pass a 1% sales tax increase in order to get ALDOT to match $125 million over five years for some of our road projects, and part of me wonders if ALDOT can even hold up to their end of the deal.

[Alps]

No more politics. Not in this thread, not anywhere, unless it is SPECIFICALLY RELATED TO ROADS. Thank you. ~S

[rcm195]

Fine. But prove to me that the state governments of Mississippi and Alabama have an agenda to withhold money for road improvements just to get back at the federal govt. Most road construction money is pork and gravy that politicians love to get and show off.
Look, I live in Walker Co. Alabama. If I could, I'd repave every state and federal road in the county every year. But that's not possible, and we all know that. How about for once we make due with what we have instead of wishing for everything we want.
That's all I'll say on my soapbox, and stick to roads. No hard feeling I trust.

[froggie]

No more politics. Not in this thread, not anywhere, unless it is SPECIFICALLY RELATED TO ROADS. Thank you. ~S

In this case, it was.

[Alps]

No more politics. Not in this thread, not anywhere, unless it is SPECIFICALLY RELATED TO ROADS. Thank you. ~S

In this case, it was.

Not the various posts I had to move. The ones I kept, yes.

[Alps]

Fine. But prove to me that the state governments of Mississippi and Alabama have an agenda to withhold money for road improvements just to get back at the federal govt. Most road construction money is pork and gravy that politicians love to get and show off.
Look, I live in Walker Co. Alabama. If I could, I'd repave every state and federal road in the county every year. But that's not possible, and we all know that. How about for once we make due with what we have instead of wishing for everything we want.
That's all I'll say on my soapbox, and stick to roads. No hard feeling I trust.

Everything you said there, I can agree with. Thank you for bringing it back on topic.

[Grzrd]

Other Task Force documents can be found here.

In short, if they refuse to do anything about the funding, then road improvements must not be a priority of the state Legislature...

This article reports that not even the Task Force itself, which concluded its work yesterday, could offer funding solutions:

A transportation study task force has concluded that the state does not generate enough money to take care of its highway needs.
But the task force, which completed its work yesterday, offered no funding solution.
Senate Transportation Chairman Willie Simmons, D-Cleveland, who headed the task force, had hoped that the panel would reach consensus on a revenue source for transportation improvements.
Simmons tells the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal that the task force's report will be presented to the Legislature where he will work "to develop a plan to improve our roads and bridges to prevent a tragedy from occurring in the future."
The final report found that 25 percent or, 20,000 miles, of highways are in "very poor condition"  and that $400 million is needed annually for highway improvements.

Pretty much a fail.............................

[lamsalfl]

I'm about ready, whenever Mississippi is to widen another segment of i-10 which I believe goes east to exit 57.  Just my feelings. 

[codyg1985]

^ It will be fun to see if Alabama or Mississippi can get to the state line first with their respective I-10 widening efforts.

As for the funding situation, both states are facing similar highway funding woes with no real solutions in sight. Neither state seems willing to consider some form of tolling or express lanes to make interstate upgrades happen faster.

[richllewis]

 There was a story on the WLBT 6PM report mentioning the bridges on I-55 south in Jackson and the bridge at 463 and I-55 north in Madison. It said that the two south bridges were going to be rebuilt. I think one of them was at Savanna St in south Jackson and there was another bridge going over I-55 south.

[lamsalfl]

I'm not sure why Alabama doesn't  "get it over with" and get the widening to Mississippi first.   The AL segment is congested with the I-65 and I-10 flow and they just have 14 miles to go.  I know, money. 

[froggie]

Neither state seems willing to consider some form of tolling or express lanes to make interstate upgrades happen faster.

Outside of a few select bottlenecks in Jackson, Mississippi doesn't have the recurring congestion that would make tolled express lanes viable.  The only way they could make tolling work on I-10 is if they tolled ALL the lanes on I-10.  And that would both A) raise a howl from Gulf Coast residents, and B) not be legal under current Federal law anyway, since the 3 pilot projects that would allow for such are already "taken".

One way around (B) would be if they were to widen the Pearl and Pascagoula River bridges and impose tolls on the bridges....Federal law is more open to tolls on bridges and tunnels on the Interstate system.  But that would still raise a stink with local residents and trucking groups.

I'm not sure why Alabama doesn't  "get it over with" and get the widening to Mississippi first.   The AL segment is congested with the I-65 and I-10 flow and they just have 14 miles to go.  I know, money. 

Yes, money.  Alabama relies even more on Federal highway funding than Mississippi does.  And with that spigot rapidly running dry....

[Grzrd]

This article reports that not even the Task Force itself, which concluded its work yesterday, could offer funding solutions

Here is the report that the Task Force presented to the Mississippi Senate:

http://www.usm.edu/sites/default/files/groups/center-logistics-trade-and-transportation/pdf/recommendations_of_the_sr_hwy_study_committee.pdf

[Grzrd]

This article reports that not even the Task Force itself, which concluded its work yesterday, could offer funding solutions

This article reports that the next possible funding solution may not be proposed until 2016:

Proponents of increased Mississippi highway funding aren't just going to be waiting until 2015.
They'll probably be waiting until 2016.
A recent legislative watchdog report agreed with Department of Transportation leaders that the state needs hundreds of millions of dollars more each year to maintain existing highways. But with Gov. Phil Bryant and Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves explicitly ruling out an increase in fuel taxes, money-raising proposals have gotten nowhere in the 2014 Legislature.
The Mississippi Economic Council plans a study looking for solutions to the state's funding shortfall, but won't make recommendations until after the 2015 state elections. Scott Waller, the executive vice president of that state chamber of commerce, confirmed plans for the study Wednesday at an MEC meeting to discuss transportation issues ....
Waller said results would come out in late 2015, with MEC planning to submit them to the 2016 Legislature. Top state leaders may put the issue on the shelf until then, although some lawmakers are kicking back against a multiyear delay ...

Looks like projects in "deep freeze" will remain in "deep freeze" for a significant period of time.