Tag: roads

Opposition Increasing to Eliminating Road Lanes in Scottsdale

Rachel Alexander
Bike Riders

The Scottsdale City Council (SCC) has been approving plans to eliminate lanes on roads in the city and replace them with bicycle lanes, known as “road diets.” This is causing a wave of concern from Scottsdale residents over the increasing traffic congestion. A road diet that was approved last March particularly angered residents since it was located in the city’s popular Old Town entertainment district. Mason Gates, one of the candidates running for the SCC this year, has made opposition to them a priority.

Gates spoke at an SCC meeting on February 20 against road diets. He said he had a discussion with a business owner located near the Old Town road diet, who said he was not consulted in preliminary talks before the SCC decided to construct a road diet there. Protect Scottsdale reported that 23 business owners in the vicinity signed a petition opposing the road diet, but their concerns were dismissed. According to Gates, Rich Bonura, the owner of BEG Bakery, told him “he often sees buses, semi-trucks, and other vehicles parked in the bike lane that is intended for cyclists. This can pose a grave danger for cyclists who need to avoid parked vehicles by swerving into traffic lanes where drivers may not expect to see them.”

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Governors Highway Safety Association Suggests Improvements to Prevent Accidents on Pennsylvania’s Rural Roads

The Center Square

Rural America has 20 percent of the country’s population and 46 percent of the nation’s car crashes. A lack of resources, both in cash and workers, poses a challenge to avoiding wrecks and deaths.

Though rural traffic studies have been of questionable quality, a new report from the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) suggests broader cooperation to pool local resources, more public outreach, and better road design to curb collisions.

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Despite Campaign Promise from Whitmer, Michigan Roads Remain in Disrepair

Cooper Moran

Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s campaign slogan to “fix the damn roads” gained viral attention for the Michigan Democrat.

However, as she gears up to seek another term, the state is still burdened with infrastructure issues. Residents of the state are required to pay thousands of dollars annually to repair their vehicle due to poor road conditions, according to one study from the nonprofit organization, TRIP.

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Gov. Whitmer Vetoes $2.5 Billion in Tax Relief

The Center Square

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer vetoed a GOP bill that aimed to provide $2.5 billion in tax breaks by dropping the personal income tax rate from 4.25% to 3.9%, saying it would blow a “hole” in her $74 billion budget.

“It would force tax hikes on families or deep and painful cuts to services, hurt our children’s ability to catch up in school, force layoffs of cops and firefighters, and kneecap our ability to keep fixing crumbling roads,” Whitmer wrote in her veto letter.

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Tennessee State Rep. Griffey Files Bill to Repeal Gas Tax

Peter D'Abrosca

A member of the Tennessee State House of Representatives filed a bill Wednesday to repeal the state’s gas tax. 

“The working people of Tennessee are getting hammered by inflation and horrendous energy policy that has caused gas prices to sky rocket! All thanks to the I’m competence of Joe Biden and the Democrats in DC,” Rep. Bruce Griffey (R-Paris) told The Tennessee Star. “Tennessee is currently running monthly budget surpluses is in the hundreds of millions of dollars over projected budgeted revenues. This gas tax repeal is a way to try to help working Tennesseans and all those Tennesseans paying bother prices at the pump.

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Senate Passes Infrastructure Bill; Tennessee’s Hagerty Warns of a Move Toward ‘Western-Europe-Style Socialism’

Bradley Vasoli

By a vote of 69 to 30, the U.S. Senate on Tuesday passed a $1.2 billion infrastructure bill that Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) warns is an endeavor to “fundamentally move America toward Western-Europe-style socialism.”

“Investing in infrastructure the right way is a wise investment in America’s future and in our long-term competitiveness, but that’s not what we’re being asked to vote on here,” Hagerty told fellow senators in the run-up to Tuesday’s vote.

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As Infrastructure Bill Heads Toward Passage, Tennessee’s Blackburn and Hagerty Sound Alarm on Debt

Bradley Vasoli
Bill Hagerty and Marsha Blackburn

As U.S. Senate leaders expect to pass a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill Tuesday morning, both of Tennessee’s senators, Marsha Blackburn (R) and Bill Hagerty (R) are vehemently opposing the legislation, alarmed by its potential to worsen the national debt.

Senate Democrats have expressed their intention to use a process called reconciliation to avoid any possible filibuster, thus allowing themselves expand the measure to encompass $3.5 trillion in federal spending.

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Tennessee Sen. Hagerty Prevents Hastened Passage of Infrastructure Bill

Bradley Vasoli

Tennessee Senator Bill Hagerty (R) on Thursday night halted a move by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to expedite advancement of a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill. 

The spending package is not dead yet, but it will not have the accelerated path to passage it would have enjoyed had all 100 senators consented to quickly moving through over a dozen amendment votes Thursday evening and sending the bill to the House of Representatives. 

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Michigan House Bill Package Looks to Find $800 Million Annually to Fix Local Roads Without Tax Hike

Admin
road construction

A House bill package seeks to put about $800 million annually into local roads without a 45-cent gas tax hike or increasing future debt.

The six-bill package, if enacted, would eliminate the six percent sales tax on fuel over three years and replace it with another excise tax that would fund the 92 percent of local roads that aren’t touched by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s $3.5 billion bonding plan.

Much of that bonding money would go to repair roads in Metro Detroit.

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Tennessee Star/Triton Poll: What Are the Issues That Matter Most to Nashville Voters?

Admin
traffic jam

  A new Tennessee Star/Triton poll reveals that Nashville voters have three top concerns: Traffic and road congestion, quality of schools and rising crime and violence. When asked their second-biggest concern, survey respondents had the same three issues at the top of their lists. 550 likely voters in Davidson County were asked: What do you think is the most important issue that our community needs to focus upon? 24.7% said traffic and road congestion; 22.9% said the quality of schools and 19% ranked rising crime/violence at the top of their list. Affordable housing was a top concern for 11.6%, with creating more and better jobs (7.6%), illegal immigration (6.9%), and high property/sales taxes (5.2%) rounding out the list. 3.7% were not sure or didn’t know. When asked the second-most important issue the numbers were remarkably similar. 26% said traffic and road congestion; 20% said the quality of schools and 20.2% ranked rising crime/violence as their second top concern. Affordable housing was a major secondary concern for 13.1%, with high property/sales taxes (5.8%), illegal immigration (5.6%) with creating more and better jobs (5.1%) further down the list of issues. 2.6% were not sure or didn’t know. Two other questions in the…

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