Washington, D.C. — The bill designed to fix the nation’s crumbling transportation infrastructure will actually accelerate road and bridge damage and trigger an increase in taxpayer subsidies to the trucking industry, said the Association of American Railroads (AAR), which opposes House language allowing for 20 percent heavier trucks and triple trailers.

  AUSTIN, TEXAS — The greater Houston area is one step closer to reduced traffic congestion for more than 2.5 million people as the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) accelerates plans for the completion of the next phase of State Highway 99 (the Grand Parkway). TxDOT announced it is moving forward with a design-build strategy for the next sections of the Grand Parkway and is expected to issue a draft Request for Proposals (RFP) for this project in early March.

   QUEBEC CITY, QUEBEC — The International Society for Concrete Pavements (ISCP) announced that the 10th International Conference on Concrete Pavements will be held in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, from July 8-12, 2012. According to ISCP, this conference will carry on the tradition of a series of international conferences begun in 1977 by Purdue University and is now organized by the ISCP.

   MADISON, WIS. — They've become the subject of myriad YouTube "how-to" videos. Entire department of transportation websites explain how to navigate them. And, they elicit more than a little anxiety and confusion in the minds of drivers entering, circling and exiting them. Yet, roundabouts are rapidly cropping up in locales ranging from city streets to rural intersections and Interstate off-ramps. In essence, they are the "next big thing" in roadway intersections.

  RICHMOND, VA. — The proposed Route 460 Corridor - Interstate 85 Connector Improvement Project between Hampton Roads and Petersburg will do far more than present an alternative to the congested I-64 corridor, according to a new report released by Chmura Economics, a national consulting firm based in Richmond. Chmura's study states that the $1.6 billion project to provide a new four-lane highway linking the Port of Virginia to commercial and population centers to the south and west will have an annual economic impact by 2020 estimated at $7.3 billion, supporting 14,120 jobs in the corridor, and $5.7 billion, supporting 11,255 jobs in the Hampton Roads area alone.