Infra Insight Blog

On February 17, 2011, Judge Wynne Carvill of the Alameda County Superior Court filed a 38 page opinion denying the efforts of Professional Engineers in California Government (PECG), the union that represents Caltrans engineers, to stop Phase 2 of the Presidio Parkway project in San Francisco.  PECG sued the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans)  and the San Francisco County Transportation Authority (SFCTA), as well as the California Transportation Commission and officials of each of these agencies, seeking a halt to Phase 2, which had been awarded as a public private partnership (P3) contract, with an availability payment as a financing mechanism.  PECG had argued that this project did not meet the criteria set forth in the 2009 legislation authorizing P3 projects in California, Streets and Highways Code section 143.  Among other reasons, it asserted that tolls were the exclusive financing mechanism under the legislation and that availability payments could not be used.

Nossaman represented SFCTA in the litigation and Caltrans for the P3 procurement.

After the same judge dissolved a temporary restraining order and denied a preliminary injunction at the end of 2010, Caltrans, in cooperation with SFCTA, signed a contract awarding the project to Golden Link Concessionaire, LLC, a consortium led by Hochtief PPP Solutions North America and Meridiam Infrastructure North America.  Golden Link proposed a maximum availability payment of $28,549,189 for the 30-year contract to design, build, finance, operate, and maintain the project.

The Presidio Parkway Project is the first project to reach award under California's new public-private partnership statute. For more about the Presidio Parkway Project and section 143, see Presidio Parkway Project Awarded,  Preferred Proposer Selected for Presidio Parkway Project, Final RFP for the Presidio Parkway Project Released, Presidio Parkway Reaches Two Important Milestones, and Presidio Parkway Project RFQ Issued.