MD PoliBlog

Transportation planning may change

City commissioners are scheduled to approve changes to the way the area does its transportation planning. Historically, the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission has served as the federally required board that must review and submit transportation projects that seek federal funding. But planning commissioners are recommending the creation of a new group to handle those duties.

The new group would be made up of elected officials and planners. Currently, the planning commission includes only people appointed by city or county commissioners. The new group would have seven voting members. They would be: two Lawrence city commissioners; one Douglas County commissioner; two members of the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission; one elected official from either Baldwin City, Eudora or Lecompton; and one representative from the Kansas Department of Transportation as appointed by the Secretary of Transportation.

Potential trend ahead for Midwest government relations?

The Illinois Senate voted unanimously to override Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s veto and outlaw political donations from state contractors who hold more than $50,000 in state contracts to the elected officials who control their business. It becomes law on Jan. 1.

Fuel demand plummets

In May, U.S. motorists drove 9.6 billion fewer miles, or 3.7 percent less than in May 2007, according to a report on traffic volume trends released by the Federal Highway Administration. It was the seventh consecutive monthly decline, suggesting that U.S. road travel will record the first annual drop since 1980.

The May total for vehicle miles traveled represented the third biggest drop recorded in the 66 years those figures have been tracked, the report said. The drop was particularly surprising because May is usually a big driving month, launching the summer car-trip season.

$140 Billion Price Tag to Repair and Modernize America's Bridges

America's 600,000 bridges are safe, but one out of every four U.S. bridges needs to be modernized or repaired despite the best efforts of state and local departments of transportation. Making all of the necessary improvements today would cost at least $140 billion dollars.

As the nation approaches the August 1 anniversary of the Minneapolis I-35W Bridge tragedy, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) today released Bridging the Gap: Restoring and Rebuilding the Nation's Bridges, a new report that outlines the critical challenges ahead.

The report's key findings are here.

State-by-state update on bridge conditions

After the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis plunged into the Mississippi River last Aug. 1, transportation departments across the USA scrambled to inspect bridges of a similar design in their own states. On the recommendation of the Federal Highway Administration, they inspected similar deck truss bridges and steel gusset plates used to connect girders. As a result, 16 states closed bridges, lowered weight limits or made immediate repairs. The collapse raised questions about funding for repairs on the 12% of the nation's 600,000 bridges rated structurally deficient. USA Today Correspondents spoke with state Department of Transportation (DOT) officials to learn what was done in the aftermath of the Minnesota tragedy and how bridge work is being funded. Summaries appear here with the percentage of bridges in each state considered structurally deficient. Information available from the states varied. In cases where states could not provide updated figures, the data came from the Federal Highway Administration's Feb. 17 report, which tracks bridges longer than 20 feet.

MARC updates Smart Moves regional transit plan

The Mid-America Regional Council has just released an update to the Smart Moves regional transit plan It calls for a network of transit corridors connecting the various parts of the metro, and allows for a range of technologies from express buses to MAX-style Bus Rapid Transit, to light rail, to commuter rail. It’s up to each local city or county to either build their own segment, or join with others to share the task.

New voters are registering in record numbers

Voter excitement, always up before a presidential election, is pushing registration through the roof this year.

According to an Associated Press survey that offers the first national snapshot of the trend, more than 3.5 million people have rushed to join the historic balloting.

Figures are up for blacks, women and young people. Rural and city. South and North.

Overall, the AP found that nearly one in 65 American adults signed up to vote in just the first three months of the year. And in the 21 states that were able to provide comparable data, new registrations have soared about 64 percent from the same three months in the 2004 campaign.

In the 21 states that were able to provide comparable figures, only Iowa showed a decline in registrations compared with 2004.

The numbers also seem to be benefiting Democrats in states that generally lean Republican. In Wyoming, where registered Republicans still outnumber Democrats by more than 2-to-1, Democratic registrations in the first three months of the year surpassed those for the GOP. Ditto in West Virginia, Iowa, Louisiana and North Carolina.

RTA seeks funding

As federal grants and other funding runs out, the Regional Transit Alliance is seeking corporate funding in order to keep operating.

Missouri's top 20 political blogs

KC Research's list of the top 20 most influential political blogs in Missouri:
1 Branson Missouri
2 Fired Up! Missouri -
3 Politics Blog
4 The KC Blue Blog
5 Gone Mild
6 The Turner Report
7 Arch City Chronicle News
8 KY3 Political Notebook
9 CHATTER
10 The Source
11 Show Me Progress
12 Blog CCP
13 Missouri Political News Service
14 24thstate.com
15 BlogKC
16 Corner of the Sky
17 Tony's Kansas City
18 PUB DEF
19 In the Mailbox
20 Simple Thoughts of a Complex Mind

States struggle to raise transportation funds

Most states are feeling the transportation spending pinch, and they're having mixed success finding ways to raise money.