Congress Faces Next Budget Deadline, Moves Tax Bill Closer to Passage
The House and Senate moved toward a week of deadlines ahead of the Christmas holiday recess, needing to pass a 2018 budget or temporary extension by Dec. 22 to keep agencies funded and moving toward a likely vote on a major tax cut bill after negotiators agreed on its framework. Lawmakers reportedly planned to offer a new "continuing resolution" to fund the government into sometime in January, as they were not expected to complete negotiations on a full-year appropriations measure for fiscal...
U.S. Department of Transportation Announces $5 Million in FY17 Funds to Improve Transit Options on Tribal Lands
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) today announced the award of approximately $5 million to help American Indian and Alaskan Native tribal governments initiate, continue and improve transit service on tribal lands. The funding is provided through the FTA’s Tribal Transit Program and will go to 36 competitively selected transit projects in 19 states. "Transportation is a lifeline in tribal communities, many of which are in rural areas of t...
Congress Extends Past-Year Government Funding Levels Two Weeks to Dec. 22
The House and Senate voted Dec. 7 to extend fiscal 2017 appropriations levels another two week to Dec. 22, avoiding a potential shutdown but preventing federal programs including those for highway projects tap into higher authorized levels for the fiscal 2018 that began Oct. 1. The House approved the "continuing resolution" in a 235-193 vote, and the Senate followed by approving the measure 81-14. The votes came one day before a temporary funding measure was due to expire, and agencies were r...
FRA, FTA Award $197M to Positive Train Control Projects in 13 States
Two federal agencies recently awarded $197 million in grants to state departments of transportation, transit agencies and commuter rail lines to help them deploy crash-avoiding "positive train control" systems. Those systems use a combination of technology that include trackside signals, antennas connecting trains with global positioning satellites and distant dispatch centers, and gear inside the locomotive that can take control of a train's braking under certain circumstances to help preven...
NJDOT & DEP Announce $9.5 Million Grant Program to Improve Air Quality through Projects Reducing Mobile-Source Emissions
(Trenton) – The Christie Administration today marked the state’s continued success in improving air quality in New Jersey by announcing a partnership between the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) and the Department of Environmental Protection to fund three new air-quality enhancement projects targeting mobile sources of pollutants. The two agencies are working with regional transportation planning agencies to use $9.5 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Transport...
TxDOT Hosts Winter Weather Open House
AMARILLO - With winter just around the corner, TxDOT wants to make sure you are prepared. Representatives from the Amarillo, Childress, and Lubbock districts of the Texas Department of Transportation, and the National Weather Service in Amarillo held a come and go open house this afternoon. They want to ensure the public's safety this winter and show their equipment is up for the challenge. "The crews have been out checking their blades, making sure everything is good to go, the equi...
Economic Impact of the Seaway
The Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System provides a safe, efficient and reliable commercial waterborne connection between the Great Lakes region of North America and foreign markets worldwide. If the Great Lakes region were a country, it would rank as the third largest economy in the world. Maritime commerce on the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System annually sustains 227,000 U.S. and Canadian jobs, and generates $35 billion in annual business revenues, $14 billion in annual wages and s...
U.S. Department of Transportation Provides Additional $36 Million to Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands for Repairs to Hurricane-Damaged Roads and Bridges
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) today announced the immediate availability of $30 million in “quick release” Emergency Relief funds for further repairs to roads and bridges throughout Puerto Rico, and $6 million for road repairs throughout the U.S. Virgin Islands. These funds supplement $42.5 million in ER funds previously made available to Puerto Rico, bringing total highway federal-aid ER funding for the territory for the two hurric...
EDA Invests $2.2M in Railroad Upgrades to Serve Davenport, Iowa, Businesses
The Commerce Department's Economic Development Administration said it awarded a $2.2 million grant to the city of Davenport, Iowa, to build a new freight rail interchange track and rail spur to serve a new manufacturing facility and other businesses locating in the city's industrial park. The EDA said grantees expected the project to create more than 500 jobs and spur $78.5 million in private investment. The rail improvements support manufacturing and logistics industries, and build on oth...
Puerto Rico Seeks $5.84B in Disaster Aid for Transportation Facilities
Gov. Ricardo Rosello is asking President Trump and Congress to provide Puerto Rico with more than $5.84 billion in disaster aid just to cover repairs to the island territory's hurricane-damaged roads, bridges, seaports and airports. That is part of a total $94.4 billion aid request he submitted Nov. 13 in a letter to Trump, of which $31 billion is to rebuild housing, nearly $18 billion for the power grid and resiliency upgrades, and $15 billion for healthcare. The governor is seeking almos...
Stormwater Interview with Robert Page, P.E., Vice President, HNTB
Santa Barbara County North Branch Jail Expansion
February Issue 2026
