Infra Insight Blog

On Sept. 19, 2011, the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) sent a press release announcing that GDOT issued the final Request for Proposal (RFP) for the West by Northwest Project.  The RFP was provided to three short-listed proposers, comprised of several national and international developers and contractors.  Brandon Beach, P3 Committee Chair of the State Transportation Board, viewed the issuance of the RFP as further evidence that GDOT’s P3 program is vibrant and continuing to make huge strides in coordinating these mega-projects with our partner agencies.

Responses ...

USDOT’s TIFIA Office is hiring a new lead negotiator/financial policy advisor and a financial analyst.  Both positions are based in Washington, DC, and applications are due September 21st. 

The ideal candidate for the lead negotiator position will be a senior finance expert who has negotiated transportation finance and/or infrastructure project finance credit agreements as practiced in domestic and international capital markets.

For the financial analysts role, the ideal candidate is a mid-level professional with experience in the financial operations and practices of ...

We are pleased to report that AB 294--the bill that was the subject of our blog yesterday--is no longer in play.

A last-minute amendment to California Assembly Bill 294, if passed, would wreak havoc on Caltrans and local agency plans to use design-build for state highway projects (Public Contract Code section 6800 et seq.) and to enter into public-private partnerships (P3s) for highway projects (Streets and Highways Code section 143).

The language added to the bill would preclude local agencies from hiring consultants to work on the projects, stating that all work must be done through Caltrans employees or consultants under contract with Caltrans.  Project consultants are often hired well ...

Susan Martinovich, president of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), together with representatives of several state departments of transportation, held a news conference yesterday to urge Congress to take action before September 30 to extend the gas tax and to reauthorize federal highway and transit programs at current funding levels.  The press conference was held at the annual meeting of the Southeastern Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

A press release reporting the news conference quoted Martinovich ...

Utah Transit Authority (UTA) brought online this week two new extensions of its well-regarded Salt Lake City TRAX light rail network.  The first projects in UTA’s ambitious Frontlines 2015 program, UTA delivered the new West Valley and Mid-Jordan TRAX lines 20% under budget and a year early, boosted by funds the federal New Starts grant program and from a quarter-cent local sales tax increase.

The 5.1-mile West Valley extension ($370 million total cost) forms part of a new TRAX green line that will eventually run from downtown Salt Lake City to the Salt Lake City International ...

On August 8, 2011, the 1st District Court of Appeal in San Francisco published a decision holding that Phase 2 of the Presidio Parkway project can move forward as a public-private partnership (P3).  The unanimous opinion approved of and affirmed the February decision by Judge Wynne Carvill of the Alameda County Superior Court to the same effect, allowing the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the San Francisco County Transportation Authority (SFCTA) to proceed with Phase II as a P3. The decision was issued less than five months after the appeal had been taken ...

The Pennsylvania Transportation Funding Advisory Commission just issued its final report on a strategy to improve the commonwealth's transportation funding. Aside from a list of recommendations for streamlining operations, the Commission made the following key recommendations for solving the commonwealth's transportation revenue and funding problems:

• Expand program management and outsourcing, including bundling "individual projects into programs—such as rehabilitating 100 to 300 bridges at one time—and engag[ing] experienced private sector program managers ...

Over the past 10 years, California lawmakers have made tremendous strides in providing express design-build procurement authority to pubic agencies in the state. This authority, however, has not been applied evenly across all project types or agencies.

As matters stand in 2011, much broader design-build authority exists for public buildings or vertical projects than for transportation or horizontal projects.  Within the realm of horizontal projects, projects on the state highway system are subject to a number of constraints that do not apply to other types of projects.  And the ...

Yesterday, the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority awarded a $486 million design-build contract to a Kiewit/Parsons joint venture. The contract is for the 11.5 mile extension of the Metro Gold Line light rail from the Sierra Madre Villa station in the City of Pasadena to Citrus Avenue near the boundary of the City of Azusa and the City of Glendora.  The Authority previously awarded a separate design-build contract to Skanska for the Iconic Freeway Structure within the same alignment.

The Authority made the award decision for the Foothill Extension project using ...