Highways

Work to install the new permanent span for the Interstate 5 Skagit River Bridge in Burlington, Wash., is officially underway, but new delays and detours will happen again in a few weeks.

In an effort to address what it says is an ongoing problem with trucks getting stuck under a railroad overpass, the Maryland State Highway Administration is implementing a new truck restriction on a section of MD 75 (Green Valley Road) near Monrovia in Frederick County.

After the Pennsylvania state legislature failed to approve a plan to raise new money for bridge and road repairs, the state Department of Transportation says it will put lower weight limits on some of the state's bridges to try to extend their useful life.

The U.S. Transportation Department says California's Devore Interchange is a critical freight link serving 21,000 trucks each day. Now the state has broken ground on a modernized Devore Interchange that will relieve freight congestion.

Another phase of the I-20 reconstruction project in Alabama was set to begin at midnight, weather permitting, resulting in about a 10-mile section of the route being closed.

As Americans hit the road for the Fourth of July holiday, they’ll be driving on slightly smoother roads, crossing fewer deficient bridges and spending less time stuck in traffic jams, according to think tank the Reason Foundation and its new Annual Highway Report.

There’s no shortage of ideas for ways to improve the national freight network. A House panel researching the issue yesterday got a list, long, broad and mostly familiar, of what transportation providers would like to see in a federal freight policy.

Would Americans favor additional taxes and fees to support the nation's transportation infrastructure? A variety of questions on that topic were posed to a sample of people in a nationwide survey.

Years of research have produced mixed views on whether different freeway speed limits for cars and trucks make roads safer, but Wayne State University researchers are taking a comprehensive approach to answering that question for state officials.

Traffic in both directions near Harrisburg, Pa., has reopened following a tanker crash and fire that closed the route last Thursday.

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell signed legislation Monday raising billions of dollars for transportation that includes new taxes on fuel. They may go even higher depending on what happens to legislation on Capitol Hill.

UPDATED -- Because a tanker fire has closed I-81 in the Harrisburg, Pa., area, the Pennsylvania Turnpike between Harrisburg East (#247) and Carlisle (#226), is being used as an alternate route. Tolls are being waived for all vehicles that enter and exit at those two interchanges only.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., reintroduced a bill that would restrict truck size and weight limits. His move positions a familiar piece in the size-and-weight chess match as the next highway bill approaches.