Gene Conti almost missed his get-well call from an old boss, former President Bill Clinton.

The North Carolina transportation secretary has been away from the office, recuperating after surgery Dec. 20 at Duke Hospital. He was about to leave home Wednesday afternoon on an errand with his wife, Betsy, when the phone rang.

Don’t answer it, Betsy said. Let’s go.

Instead, she tapped her foot while her husband chatted with his caller for about five minutes. Yes, Gene said into the phone, my doctors have had me on a weight-loss program, too. I’m walking a treadmill, just like you did.

“Who was that?” Betsy asked when he finally hung up. ... [MORE]

DOT Secretary Gene Conti favors collecting tolls at several points up and down Interstate 95 as it passes through North Carolina to raise money for a long-delayed multi-billion-dollar overhaul of I-95.

State Sen. Larry Shaw of Fayetteville likes the idea of collecting tolls on I-95, too -- but not in his district.  Shaw prefers to see I-95 tolls only at the Virginia and South Carolina borders.

The busy stretch between Fayetteville and I-40 at Benson is likely to be first in line for widening I-95, repaving it and rebuilding the interchanges. 

In an e-mail to me today, Shaw said:

As you may know, I have been a proponent of tolls for over ten years.  I believe tolls are a necessary source of revenue for maintaining and repairing our state’s infrastructure. I understand there are suggestions to place tolls on I-95 in the 25 mile stretch between Fayetteville and Benson, NC.  I believe tolls should be placed at the state’s borders to capture interstate drivers instead of the local populace.

DOT is developing a plan to phase in the needed I-95 improvements, and probably to phase in a system of toll collections to pay for it.  Details are online at www.driving95.com. 

Virginia's governor is making plans to erect a tollbooth on Interstate 95 near the North Carolina border, and North Carolina officials are talking seriously as well about collecting tolls to pay for a multi-billion-dollar overhaul of I-95 as it passes through eastern North Carolina (see Sunday's story with reader comments.)

Tolls only at the border are somehow more palatable to voters and in-state drivers, and that's what Senate leader Marc Basnight favors: tolls, but only at the Virginia border. 

But in interview remarks that didn't make Sunday's story, Gene Conti, the state DOT secretary, says Virginia's border-only approach would not raise enough revenue to pay for the I-95 fix.  North Carolina probably will have to have several toll collection points along the 182 miles of I-95, Conti said. ... [MORE]

For his contribution to Read Across America Day, Gene Conti selected a Dr. Seuss story that transportation wonks would call multi-modal.

"Green Eggs and Ham" stars a character called Sam-I-Am and includes references to several kinds of transportation. So that's what Conti, the state transportation secretary, read today to students at Washington GT Magnet Elementary School in downtown Raleigh.

At least in the press release version of the event, Conti inserted his own poetry, with a safety message, into Seuss's verse:

You can eat green eggs and ham on a boat, on a plane, or while riding a train.
But please refrain when you’re driving your car. Safety first – it’s who we are.

The National Education Association sponsors an annual reading day on the birthday of children's author Dr. Seuss, born 106 years ago today (he died in 1991).

He doesn’t know whether his state will get federal billions to build a fast train network, but Gene Conti was the face of America’s state high-speed rail boosters this week at a Japanese-sponsored seminar in Washington.

North Carolina’s transportation secretary didn’t get much media attention in the United States for an event covered by six Japanese TV networks, “High Speed Rail: Mobilizing a New Generation,” sponsored by the Japanese International Transport Institute and Japanese government agencies.

North Carolina is one of 37 states competing for a share of $8 billion in federal stimulus funds for high-speed and intercity passenger rail projects. The Obama administration is expected to announce the winners sometime this winter.

Conti chairs a rail transportation committee for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

“We’re building a network that is greener, reduces our dependence on foreigh oil, gives citizens more travel options, and will boost the community and economic health of our country through the creation of new jobs,” he said at Thursday's event, which had an American and Japanese audience.

Japan actually has a high-speed rail network.

Transportation Secretary Gene Conti's Visit Part II:

The secretary also talked about how his department is no longer just the "highway" department. He's also focusing on transit and even bike trails. Of the federal stimulus money coming North Carolina's way, $735 million will go to roads and bridges and $103 million to transit ($70 million of that to urban transit). He's also looking at going after even more federal money that would come with coordinating projects with other states, including Virginia and South Carolina.

If you're worried about the disrepair of the state's roads and bridges, Conti said we might come to a time when we have to say we'll build no new capacity until we can keep what we have in good shape.

Are we there yet?

Conti also mentioned something else that might hamstring the state's road-building ability: air quality. He said Charlotte is in danger of having a moratorium on road construction because of its poor air quality. He envisions the Triangle having to wrestle with the same issue.

In Conti's opinion, the worst stretch of I-95 is the one between Benson and Fayetteville. His department is starting a 15-month study of I-95 in the hopes of coming up with an upgrade plan that makes sense. Yes, that might include tolls.

Because of the way North Carolina sets up road construction and maintenance, Conti's job is nearly unique among the states. North Carolina is second only to Texas in miles of state-maintained roads. 

But given our love of loops around here, the most interesting thing Conti said was that there ain't going to be any more loops (or completion of loops) for a long, long time.

Take a listen.

N.C. Transportation Secretary Gene Conti sat down with The N&O's editorial board yesterday to answer questions about how things are going, given that his department in the past has come under fire fairly frequently. When Gov. Beverly Perdue took over the reins of the state, she decided to turn the transportation process on its head, changing the Board of Transportation from a decision-making body to an advisory body. Conti pretty much holds all the power now.

How's that reform going and how hard is it to change the culture there? For starters, Conti said that his department will have a goal of accomplishing 80 percent to 90 percent of what it says it will do, as opposed to the 50 percent success record it has now.

Here are two audio clips of Conti answering those questions:

Politics still plays a role in state road-building decisions — but only in a good way, Transportation Secretary Gene Conti said today.

“What we’re trying to do is take favoritism or special preference out of the decision-making process,” Conti told reporters. “We’re still going to have a political process, because we’re going to reflect the views of people all over the state.”

Conti spoke a day after Gov. Beverly Perdue announced details of her plan (see blog post with comments) to remove the Board of Transportation — whose members are appointed to represent different parts of the state — away from its old job of deciding which roads are built, where and when.

She was following through on a reform pledge made during her campaign last year, after two of her political backers were forced to resign from the transportation board. ... [MORE]

Much more planning and, maybe, less politics.

That’s Gov. Bev Perdue’s new recipe for professional decision-making at the state Department of Transportation.

Perdue announced details today of her pledge to move the Board of Transportation — whose members are appointed by the governor to represent different parts of the state — away from its former job of deciding which roads and bridges get built, where and when.

In the future, the board will set policy. DOT employees, under Secretary Gene Conti, will decide where the money is spent “based on data and input from local government and planning groups,” Perdue said. Conti will brief board members on the details Wednesday.

They’ll be measured on their performance and guided by a triple layer of new statewide plans: ... [MORE]

For possibly the first time ever, the state Board of Transportation will not take action at its monthly meeting Thursday on what has always been its bread-and-butter work: awarding highway contracts.

Instead, the board will simply agree to let Transportation Secretary Gene Conti decide which companies get each of the bridge and road jobs on this month’s agenda.

It’s the board’s first meeting since Gov. Bev Perdue took office and decreed that transportation board members, who are political appointees from around the state, will get out of the business of awarding DOT contracts.

Conti says the new way of doing business will be worked out in time for the board’s next meeting, in March. He will start by taking responsibility for major contracts this month — but not for all of the board’s spending decisions, yet.

“It’s a different way of doing things,” Conti said after explaining his plans to a board committee today. "We don't want to jam things down people's throats without talking to them, ... [MORE]