OLATHE, KAN. — Terracon is making it possible to learn about the latest innovations in transportation even if you aren’t able to attend the Design-Build Institute of America’s (DBIA) Design-Build in Transportation Conference in Phoenix April 25-27. As part of Terracon’s Green Light Series, many of the conference presentations will be taped and highlights will be available post-show.  

LOUISVILLE, KY. — The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet postponed the planned selection of three finalists competing to build a new Interstate 65 bridge over the Ohio River in downtown Louisville and rebuild the interstate connections in both Kentucky and Southern Indiana. The Kentucky General Assembly adjourned without passing the two-year transportation budget, which provides the necessary funding for construction of the Downtown Crossing of the Bridges Project.  

RICHMOND, VA. — Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell announced that the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and Elizabeth River Crossings (ERC) reached financial close to begin construction on a new Midtown Tunnel. Financial close releases all funding needed to build the $2.1 billion project, which also includes extending the Martin Luther King (MLK) Boulevard and rehabilitating the existing Midtown and Downtown tunnels, providing a network of transportation improvements and congestion relief to motorists in the Hampton Roads region. Construction will begin as early as summer of 2012.  

 WASHINGTON, D.C. — On March 29, the co-chairs of the Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC) issued the following statement: "We commend the House of Representatives and Senate for passing legislation to ensure the continued operation of the federal highway and public transportation programs as the 2012 construction season begins cranking up. This action notwithstanding, extension after extension of these programs is no substitute for a multi-year reauthorization that could begin to address the nation's staggering infrastructure challenges.  

 WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new report on the state of America's transportation infrastructure, “2010 Status of the Nation's Highways, Bridges and Transit: Conditions and Performance,” points to a sizeable gap between current spending and projected levels of investment needed to maintain the nation's highway and transit systems. The U.S. Department of Transportation report projects that $101 billion, plus increases for inflation, would be needed annually over the next 20 years from all levels of government — local, state and federal — to keep the highway system in its current state.