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Mark your Calendars to join us for the
20th Anniversary Reunion Ports-to-Plains Alliance Conference
September 12-14, 2017 -- Lubbock, TX!
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Begins Tonight at 5:00pm with a 20th Anniversary Ribbon Cutting
and Opening Reception at the Overton Hotel & Conference Center!
Registration available at the door for $150
President Trump’s visit may give boost to Port to Plains
A four-lane corridor that runs from Canada through Williston and Watford City on down to Laredo, Texas, would be a game changer not just for the Bakken but the nation, serving eight of the top 15 oil-producing states and three of the top seven farm states.
The idea has attracted some attention at the federal level, resulting in an invitation for the Ports to Plains Alliance to make the case for putting the rural America project on the short list for one of President Donald Trump’s large infrastructure packages.
Cal Klewin, executive director of the Theodore Roosevelt Expressway Association, told the Williams County Commission Tuesday that the invitation came as a result of meeting with staff of the House Transportation Committee and Senate Environment Workforce.
“They are very aware of the Ports to Plains alliance and what the alliance has been doing,” Klewin said. “We have been invited to send a letter to the Trump administration suggesting that the Ports to Plains Alliance states should be considered for one of the larger packages in the infrastructure package. That was kind of exciting.”
The letter is already being drafted and will be sent both to the federal administration and Trump. “We are staying on top of that,” Klewin said.
Read on...
Highway Trust Fund’s Tax Receipts Flatten in Fiscal 2017 While Traffic Sets Record Highs
Total collections of federal excise taxes for the Highway Trust Fund flattened in the first 10 months of the latest fiscal year, the Treasury Department has reported, even as traffic volume on U.S. roads continues to climb to ever-higher record levels.
The trends suggest what transportation investment advocates have long warned against – that the current structure of various highway user taxes in the trust fund cannot be counted on to keep up with steadily growing demand on the nation's roadway infrastructure.
In its July monthly budget statement, the Treasury said HTF excise tax collections net of refunds reached $31.712 billion for October through July, slightly below the $31.830 collected at the same point a year earlier.
Meanwhile, the Federal Highway Administration reported that vehicle miles traveled on all the nation's roads increased by 1.6 percent for the first six months of the 2017 calendar, for another all-time high after another annual record high in 2016.
It has long been clear that the HTF excise tax receipts fall far short of what Congress authorizes to spend from that fund each year on federal highway and transit programs, an imbalance that has prompted lawmakers to repeatedly bridge the structural gap with general funds.
The current five-year surface transportation law, for instance, transferred $70 billion into the trust fund from general resources, paid for partly by drawing on an unrelated capital surplus at the Federal Reserve.
Because of that trend, transportation industry groups have been calling for Congress and the Trump administration to address the long-term solvency risks to the government's largest infrastructure fund by finding additional dedicated funding that would put the HTF back on solid financial footing.
Read on...
NAFTA's Impact On Cattle, Protein Trade
Trade representatives of the United States, Mexico and Canada declared “progress” but unveiled no breakthroughs at the most recent second round of talks to revise the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Warnings have been expressed from U.S. agricultural producer organizations about the harm that would come from blowing up the decades-old trade arrangement.
When it comes to cattle imported into the U.S. from Mexico and Canada, combined is just over a million head per year, or about two weeks of cattle slaughter. When looking at all proteins -- beef, pork and poultry -- to stop all trade with Canada and Mexico would put 250 million pounds back on the U.S. market net. Yet it could have a significant impact on the market individually, such as poultry as we export significant amounts to Mexico.
The NAFTA talks are expected to last at least through the end of this year, with venues rotating among the three nations. The just-concluded five-day session in Mexico City followed an initial round last month in Washington.
ND highway department's biggest project ever opens to traffic
WILLISTON, N.D.—The new $80 million Lewis and Clark Bridge, the single largest infrastructure project bid in North Dakota Department of Transportation history, opened to traffic on Thursday.
The bridge is on U.S. Highway 85 south of Williston and crosses the Missouri River.
"Opening of the Lewis and Clark Bridge marks a major milestone in the history of North Dakota's transportation system," Lt. Gov. Brent Sanford said. "This bridge is a big part of the state's investment in western North Dakota to provide essential transportation for the safety of the traveling public and for the state's economy."
The bridge is part of the U.S. Highway 85 four-lane expansion, which included more than $340 million of state money invested into the bridge, two bypasses and 60 miles of highway from Watford City to Williston.
"U.S. Highway 85 is an essential highway in western North Dakota for the energy industry," says Tom Sorel, director of the NDDOT. "This bridge is a major thoroughfare for traffic with approximately 10,000 vehicles a day utilizing the Lewis and Clark Bridge."
Read on...
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