If you travel toll roads in Maryland, you may want to check out this Baltimore Sun article.

The tolls will likely increase after next year for two reasons: the recession and debt.

About 12 pounds of explosives brought down a bridge that spanned the Monongahela River at Port Marion on Monday, the Associated Press reported.

The 80-year-old bridge, which connected Fayette and Greene counties in western Pennsylvania, was considered to be one of the most structurally deficient in the state, according to the report.

You can read more about it here.

Or check out the Associated Press video by clicking here.

A four-mile stretch of Route 15 in Franklin Township will be closed for about an hour Monday morning as part of a crash investigation, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

The closure is expected to start at 9 a.m., and it involves the stretch from Range End Road to the York/Adams county line.

Drivers can detour around this area by using Franklin Church Road, Old Route 15/Capitol Hill Road and Latimore Road.

Drivers can log onto 511pa.com or call 511 from any phone to check traffic conditions before heading out.

Congratulations to Lauren Beharry, who is one of the winners in PennDOT's aviation art contest.

Beharry attends Orendorf Elementary School and won for grades one through three in District 8, which includes Adams and York counties.

The winning entries will be on display in the state Capitol from Nov. 30 through Dec. 4.

The theme this year was "The History of Flight."

Do we spend too little on preventing pedestrian deaths?

A national transportation coalition, Transportation for America, thinks so. According to the coalition's Web site, more than 76,000 Americans have been killed while crossing or walking along a street in their community in the past 15 years. More than 43,000 Americans - including 3,906 children under 16 - have been killed this decade alone, the Web site states.

"This is the equivalent of a jumbo jet going down roughly every month, yet it receives nothing like the kind of attention that would surely follow such a disaster," it says.

The coalition is urging to make streets safer, such as designing roads with pedestrians and bicyclists in mind, retrofitting the most dangerous roads and making neighborhoods walkable.

The coalition's study released rankings, and in Pennsylvania, the York-Hanover area ranked 8th for being dangerous for pedestrians. The area reported six pedestrian fatalities in 2007/2008, and it represented 5.6 percent of the traffic deaths. The average federal dollars spent per person on walking and biking in the York-Hanover area is $1.68.

Click here to go to the coalition's Web site.

What do you think?

Buses and trains started running again in Philadelphia after the transit workers went on a six-day strike.

You can read more about it here.

Wednesday is Veterans Day so all of the driver license and photo centers -- including the full-service one in Harrisburg -- will be closed.

You can still get driver and vehicle products and services online here.

It was funny to see one of PennDOT's snow trucks traveling on Interstate 83 today when it was so warm. The temperature reached a high of 70 degrees.

But winter is coming soon, and the local maintenance crews are gearing up. For two weeks, the crews will be making final preparations, such as installing and calibrating the spreaders, hitching up the plows and performing dry runs on the designated routes.

So you won't be seeing much maintenance work on the roads for two weeks. Some will be done, but most will not require any lane closures, according to PennDOT.

In case you haven't heard, Philadelphia transit system's largest union went on strike early Tuesday, taking many riders by surprise, the Associated Press reported today.

There had been talk of a strike during the World Series, but Gov. Ed Rendell had ordered the union and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority to remain at the bargaining table or risk consequences, the Associated Press said.

The union went on strike around 3 a.m. Tuesday, just hours after people who had attended the baseball game used mass transit to return home.

You can read more about the strike here.

Did you use the buses, subway or trolley service to get to the game?

Road maintenance work will be winding down after this week as winter approaches.

Crews with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation have installed salt spreaders on the trucks, which will continue in the coming weeks, said Steve Grassetti, York County maintenance manager.

Crews spread a little salt on Interstate 83 and Route 851 in the early morning hours of Oct. 18 when the Shrewsbury area received a dusting of snow, he said.

Some maintenance work will continue through the winter, weather-permitting, Grassetti said.

As for the coming week, drivers could see single-lane restrictions on I-83, Business 83 and Route 15. Crews will be flushing drains on I-83 between the Strinestown exit and the
Cumberland County Line.

They'll be mowing and cutting brush on Business 83 between I-83 and South George Street.

And they'll be patching potholes on Route 15 between the Adams and Cumberland county lines.

Two roads will be closed for pipe replacement: South Salem Church Road between Emig School and Ruppert roads in Dover Township; and Pinetown Road from Route 177 to
Roundtop Road in Warrington Township.

Drivers also could see single-lane restrictions on the following roads:

--- Tyler Run Road between Queen Street and Powder Mill Road in York Township for flushing.

--- Hollywood Drive from Springwood Road to Mount Rose Avenue in York and Spring Garden townships for flushing drains.

--- Druck Valley Road between Sherman and Tracy School roads in Springettsbury and Hellam townships for drainage repairs.

--- Goram Road between routes 74 and 425 in Chanceford and Lower Chanceford townships for oil and chipping the shoulder.

--- York Haven Road between York Haven and Newberrytown for pipe patching.

--- Route 425 between Posey and Shenks Ferry roads in Lower Chanceford and Chanceford townships for mowing and brush cutting.

--- Route 516 between Sticks Road in Codorus Township and Jefferson for mowing and brush cutting.

--- Route 116 between Grandview and Smith Station roads in Penn and Heidelberg townships for mowing and brush cutting.

--- Cassel Road in Newberry Township for paving and crack sealing.

--- Canal Road from Route 30 to Biesecker Road in Paradise and Dover townships for paving and crack sealing.

--- Bull Road from Greenbriar Road to Canal Road in several municipalities for paving and crack sealing.

--- Route 30 between Route 116 in West Manchester Township and the Adams County line for paving and crack sealing.