Jonathan Chalon’s Post

Starting in May, the first of multiple phases will focus on five segments of at-grade rail and street intersections in the Downtown Loop at $152 million. https://ow.ly/QjZ450QJq50

Big year ahead for Suburban Rail Loop

The goal of the state-funded FASTER (Funding Advancements for Surface Transportation and Economic Recovery) traffic and roadway improvement project is to improve safety and traffic flow to the eastbound U.S. 50 on and off ramps and to Colo. 115 by replacing the intersection with a roundabout. 

https://lnkd.in/e7xN8SgP Laudable, but we need north-south rail capacity and east-west rail more too. That means rebuilding/new builds to inform more orbital links for West Midlands and East Midlands and connections thereof. E.g. #Oxford-#Leicester could be direct if the missing piece of railway between #Northampton and Market Harborough (MH) is rebuilt and an east-north direct running curve put in for #Birmingham-#Rugby/DIRFT-Leicester (more options/capacity) and vice versa. Likewise a study to look at a new rail link between the Rugby area with the Leicester/Leicester-Nuneaton lines could serve developments like Magna Park, never existed in Great Central days and also bring the #Lutterworth area back onto the rail network. Otherwise we have some freight by rail, but lion's share on the roads and with more development, congestion and gridlock alongside loss of land for other uses beit housing, leisure, conservation and food-farming, is lost and we're poorer too. Who will blink first, have power to call in such sprawls and ensure the rail network can deliver 90% freight by rail unfolding, not a mere 10% if lucky! #Knighton-#Burton rail link could serve for diversionary north-south feright to create more capacity through Leicester. #networkrail #dft #rail #railways #transport #environment #links #newlines #people #modalshift #modalchoice

HAMPTON, VA — A significant traffic shift at the entrance of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel VDOT said could begin as early as May 1 hasn’t happened yet. According to Communications Manager Paula Miller, the traffic shift onto the new eastbound trestle at the Hampton shoreline will likely not happen “before Thursday evening.” She said May 1 was the target date, and while crews are close to completing the work, they are still finishing up the final touches. She did not have an exact date or time, but said when it does happen, it will be overnight so the shift will already be in place by the morning commute. The traffic shift will affect drivers traveling from Hampton to Norfolk on Interstate 64. Traffic will permanently shift to the right at the Hampton shoreline onto the newly constructed North Trestle as part of the HRBT’s $3.9 billion expansion project. Once the shift is complete, crews will begin work to the demolish the previous trestle. Digital signage will be in place to direct traffic. The shift comes about two weeks after another major development in the expansion. Mary the tunnel boring machine completed the first of two new tunnels for the project. The overall project, which started in November 2020, is now not expected to be fully complete until August 2027. When the expansion is completed, there will be two tunnels going both north and south at the HRBT. For more details, click on the link below. #escrowcredirt #newmarktitleservices https://lnkd.in/gESwZNdh

Note the claim in the last paragraph: “Under Commissioner McMurry’s stewardship, GDOT has emerged as a #P3 leader, notably with the successful implementation of transformative efforts like the I-75 Northwest Corridor Express Lanes and the I-285/SR 400 Interchange reconstruction. Those projects, delivered through innovative Design-Build-Finance models, are significantly enhancing traffic flow in the metro Atlanta area and improving commuter experiences while setting new benchmarks for efficiency and public benefit.” Do highway expansion projects ever provide enduring enhancements to traffic flow? This #transportation agency in the US state of #Georgia clearly thinks so, but where is their proof? Current research indicates the opposite: expanded roads are known induce demand, which results in more congestion. Is this award an attempt by the highway #planning establishment to justify the vast expenditures on these projects that inevitably fail their primary mission? https://lnkd.in/ePxjJxwt

🚆 Upcoming Mega Rail Projects in the USA 🚆 The U.S. is on the brink of a rail transformation with several upcoming mega projects that aim to modernize infrastructure, reduce emissions, and improve connectivity. One of the most anticipated projects is the California High-Speed Rail, which will connect major cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles, drastically cutting travel time. Once completed, it will be the first true high-speed rail system in the U.S., running at speeds of up to 220 mph. On the East Coast, the Gateway Program is another monumental project, aiming to improve passenger rail capacity between New York City and New Jersey, one of the busiest rail corridors in the world. The program includes replacing aging tunnels under the Hudson River and upgrading track infrastructure. Other significant developments include Brightline’s expansion to Orlando, bringing fast, modern trains to Florida, and Amtrak's Northeast Corridor upgrades, which focus on speeding up travel between Boston and Washington, D.C. These projects represent a significant investment in the future of U.S. rail, enhancing both sustainability and economic growth by providing more efficient transportation options. Learn more about these exciting developments here: https://lnkd.in/gSaYCxyT #RailInnovation #HighSpeedRail #SustainableTransport

🌍 As the Middle East pushes forward countless mega-projects, it is wise to look elsewhere in the world to see how mega-projects have failed miserably. 🇬🇧 Take High-Speed 2 (HS2) in the UK as an example. £67 bn to deliver a meager line between London and Birmingham. £300m per km for a route which was already served by rail. 🚆 First, there needs to be a necessity. Stopping short of Manchester, and only building London-Birmingham defeats the point. Transportation is based on network effects, this route barely has any. 🗺️ Second, new routes are supposed to facilitate, not debilitate existing ones. The inability of rolling stock to be leveraged on the line north of Birmingham means slower trains to Manchester. Applying high speed rail stock to existing rail track is not exactly compatible. Improving one route at the expense of another is one step forward, two steps back. 📑 Third, planning laws should not bog down such mega-projects. The project has had to obtain more than 8,000 planning consents. This translates to time and money lost. Procedures to fast track such projects is a must. ✅ As the Middle East moves forward with its own rail projects, it’s worth keeping these lessons in mind.

What is wrong with UK CONSTRUCTION! Do know of any other project that's gone this much over #budget and timescale Small railway footbridge takes longer to build than #EmpireStateBuilding Network Rail's The 102-storey Empire State Building in #NewYork is one of the world’s most #iconic buildings, attracting millions of #visitors a year. A rather less spectacular feat of #engineering, a footbridge at a #railway #station near #Reading, has taken longer to build and cost about the same to construct in cash terms. The pedestrian walkway at Theale station in west #Berkshire was already ten years overdue when National Rail finally began construction in January 2023. Even so, it is not expected to be completed until spring this year, and the #budget has spiralled to £9.5 million from a projected £1.25 million in 2011. #networkrail #railwayindustry #gwr #hs2 #constructionindustry #construction #usa #europe #australia #loveconstruction constructionbuddies.co.uk