Headline News
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Doug Coe, a normally confident engineering manager for the new east span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, walked into the nearby Oakland project office looking as if he were fighting back tears. Joel Sayre, then a bridge spokesman who worked there, remembers tensing in alarm.
Sacramento Bee -
In a report released Thursday, the Transportation Agency for Monterey County says converting the outdated two-lane Highway 156 into a nearby four-lane toll road between Highways 1 and 101 could be mostly paid for by modest tolls, ranging from $1.60 to $2.50 a trip.
Contra Costa Times -
Q: Mothers Against Drunk Driving, or MADD, has been inundated with inquiries about lowering the legal blood alcohol limit for drunken driving from 0.08 percent to 0.05 percent, which is the legal limit in much of Europe and which last week was proposed to become the legal limit in the U.S.
Mercury Newsews -
The Bee's ongoing investigation into California Department of Transportation testing and construction has prompted changes in how state government safeguards bridges and roadways.
Sacramento Bee -
Disabled drivers could be forced to feed San Francisco parking meters, a move city officials say is for their own good..."We originally thought increased enforcement would solve the problem," said Ed Reiskin, the city's transportation director and co-chair of the committee, which released its recommendations Friday. But after seeing how other U.S. cities handled the problem, the committee found that "removing the incentive to park free for an unlimited amount of time is the key."
SF Chronicle -
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration last week released preliminary numbers on the number of highway fatalities that occurred in 2012, showing a more than 5 percent increase from 2011. The preliminary numbers show the first year-to-year uptick in highway traffic fatalities in seven years.
AASHTO Journal -
...New research [PDF] published in the journalDiabetologia found that children growing up in areas exposed to high levels of traffic-related air pollutants had higher levels of insulin resistance, one precursor to diabetes.
Atlantic Cities -
Last week, researchers at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis), released their latest analysis of California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard. The 2009 regulation requires oil companies and refineries to reduce the carbon intensity of transportation fuels — how much carbon dioxide they emit per unit of energy — by 10% by 2020. For 2013, this translates to a reduction of 1%, and the UC Davis researchers found that companies racked up enough gains last year to meet half of their obligations for the current year.
Nature -
Tens of thousands of Sacramento drivers, who were sent scattering five years ago when Caltrans shut Interstate 5 for repair, will soon face a freeway fix that could be even more intrusive.
Sacramento Bee -
Sorry Gov. Brown, the infamous rod failures on the new Bay Bridge span cannot be dismissed as "s--happens." Since we first learned about the connectors that are critical to the bridge's seismic stability, Brown had said nothing...Finally he broke his silence Tuesday with the widely reported flip comment...
Oakland Tribune