Infra Insight Blog

We are now a short distance away from expiration of MAP-21, with no solution in sight for sources of funding to sustain the federal highway program.  There is no stomach in Congress to increase federal gas taxes or to make real progress toward replacing gas taxes with mileage-based user fees.

As for tolls, Rep. Bill Shuster, Chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said in a speech last week that they might be even more difficult to do than some of the user fees."  Tolling of interstates that have been free for decades would not be kindly received by voters, according to ...

On September 10, 2013, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) in cooperation with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), announced the shortlist for the Accelerated Regional Transportation Improvements (ARTI) Project.

The Project, located in Los Angeles County, includes the development of one high-occupancy toll lane in each direction along Interstate 5 (I-5) North from the SR 14 freeway to Parker Road; the design, reconstruction, rehabilitation and maintenance of the pavement of all lanes of the same segment of I-5 North; ...

The Design-Build Institute of America has released the first iteration of Design-Build Done Right, identifying industry wide best practices for design-build project delivery.  Tracking a project delivery timeline, the practices are grouped into three areas: (1) Procuring Design-Build Services; (2) Contracting for Design-Build Services; and (3) Executing the Delivery of Design-Build Projects.  DBIA’s goal is to identify practices in this document that have two basic characteristics:

1. The practices are written in a way that is intended to be universal in applicability ...

This morning, U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) Secretary Anthony Foxx announced the winners of the fifth round of the Department’s highly competitive Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) discretionary grant program.  From 585 applications requesting more than $9 billion, USDOT selected 52 transportation infrastructure projects in 37 states that will receive a total of $474 million. 

Notable grants awarded today include more than $9 million to the Michigan Department of Transportation for its Kalamazoo to Dearborn passenger rail ...

On July 6, 2013, Oregon became the first state to establish a voluntary road usage charge system for transportation funding.  Senate Bill 810 authorizes the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) to charge up to 5,000 motorists 1.5 cents for every mile they drive rather than the traditional 30-cent gas tax.  The law comes on the heels of two ODOT pilot programs that examined alternative funding mechanisms to the gas tax and tested the vehicles-miles traveled fee (VMT) system.

As reported here, the Executive Director and CEO of the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike ...

On August 16, 2013, the California High-Speed Rail Authority (Authority) executed a design-build contract with a joint venture among Tutor Perini Corporation, Zachry Construction Corporation and Parsons Transportation Group Inc. for the initial segment of the first high-speed rail system in the United States.  The initial segment is 29 miles long and is located in California's Central Valley.  The contract is valued at approximately $985 million, plus an additional $53 million in provisional sums.  Please refer to the Authority's web site for further information.

On July 31, 2013, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) executed a $108 million lump-sum design-build contract with Bizzack Construction, LLC (Bizzack) for the design and construction of the rough-grade roadbed for the U.S. Route 460 Connector Phase II.  The 460 Connector Phase II project is a 6.2-mile four-lane, limited access highway located between the U.S. Route 460 Connector Phase I, which is under construction near Breaks Interstate Park, Route 460 and the proposed Route 121 (Coalfields Expressway) interchange in Buchanan County, Virginia.  This route is ...

Today the Federal Transit Administration published final policy guidance to augment its New and Small Starts Program final rule published earlier this year.  The final rule established how the Federal Transit Administration evaluates new major transit projects that seek assistance under these funding programs authorized by Section 5309 of Title 49, U.S. Code.  The final rule does not address changes made by the MAP-21 legislation signed last July, rather it addresses parts of the program left unchanged by the 2012 legislation.

The New and Small Starts programs were developed as the ...

Before departing Washington, DC for the traditional August Congressional recess, Congressmen Mike Rogers (R-AL-3) and Gerry Connolly (D-VA-11) announced that they are forming the Congressional Caucus on Public-Private Partnerships, or the Congressional P3 Caucus.  In the press release announcing the caucus, Rogers says that he hopes the group will help raise awareness of infrastructure issues and examine public-private partnerships across the country.  Congressional caucuses are formed by Members seeking to work collectively on issues, usually with the goal of increasing ...

A lawsuit recently filed by Scenic America strikes at a guidance issued by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in 2007 related to the use of changeable electronic variable message signs (CEVMS) also known as digital billboards.  These CEVMS, which are seen with increasing frequency on sites adjacent to and intended to be viewed from the highway right of way, rely on state of the art digital technology to provide changeable, high definition commercial messages to the traveling public.

The FHWA guidance being challenged addresses an issue raised by the Highway ...

On August 1, 2013, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) and request for comments regarding proposed changes to FHWA’s design-build regulation that would eliminate a requirement for proposers to submit base proposals where the contracting agency allows them to submit alternative technical concepts (ATCs) in their proposals.  ATCs have proved to be highly beneficial, encouraging innovation, cost savings and reduction of environmental impacts and increasing the overall value to procuring agencies through the best value ...

Earlier this year the SHRP 2 Program and the Transportation Research Board issued a report entitled The Effect of Public-Private Partnerships and Non-Traditional Procurement Processes on Highway Planning, Environmental Review and Collaborative Decision Making, which is available on the TRB website.

Public-private partnerships (P3s) have become an important tool in developing and financing infrastructure improvements, and are being used by transportation agencies across the nation.  One issue faced by agencies wishing to explore the use of P3s concerns how P3 strategies ...

Last week the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) conducted a two-day industry workshop at the Golden Nugget Conference Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, for Project Neon, a freeway improvement project on the west side of Las Vegas. More than 200 attendees, including major international developers and local contracting firms, learned about NDOT’s plans to procure the first phase of the project (the P3 Phase) under an availability payment approach where the winning bidder would design, build, finance, operate and maintain the project for approximately a 35-year term. This ...

On July 26, the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) held its awards dinner for the 25th Annual P3s in Transportation Conference.   Each year during this dinner, the ARTBA P3 Division honors projects that exemplify the value of P3s in the United States and also recognizes two individuals, one public sector and one private sector, for their exemplary contributions to the development, growth and public education of P3s.  

This year, the Ohio River Bridges – East End Crossing and its public and private participants swept the awards dinner.  The project won Project ...

State agencies have increasingly turned to alternative contracting methods such as design-build and public-private partnerships to deliver highway construction projects.  As a result, the use of performance-based specifications has also increased.

To provide a better understanding of how these specifications function, the Transportation Research Board (TRB) recently released Legal Research Digest 61, which provides an overview of performance-based specifications, explores how they differ from traditional design or method-based specifications, and explains the ...

Following up on our previous post regarding the uncertainty surrounding the application of Buy America requirements to utility relocations, the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) has recently released two documents that provide further clarification on the matter.

On July 11, 2013, USDOT circulated an internal memorandum to Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Division Administrators and the Directors of Field Services acknowledging that the broadened application of Buy America has created implementation issues for the utility industry and caused ...

On July 23, the Georgia State Transportation Board (STB) voted to accept the selection of Northwest Express Roadbuilders (NWER) as the apparent best value proposer for the $840 million Northwest Corridor managed lanes P3 project located in Cobb and Cherokee Counties.  The project is the largest transportation infrastructure project in the history of the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT).  It includes two reversible tolled managed lanes along the west side of I-75 between its interchanges with I-285 and I-575.  Also, above the I-575 interchange, one reversible tolled ...

Showing concern for the TIFIA JPO’s slow pace of credit approvals for major US transportation, on July 24, 2013, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works conducted an oversight hearing on the implementation of the TIFIA Program following MAP 21’s expansion of the program almost a year ago.  We are aware of only one project that has received credit approval in that time frame.

Geoff Yarema, a partner in the Infrastructure Practice Group and a member of the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission, provided testimony today at the hearing.

In ...

In addition to taking testimony from public agency project sponsors and industry leaders during the July 24, 2013 oversight hearing on TIFIA conducted by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, the Committee heard from the Secretary of Transportation, Anthony Foxx, regarding the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) implementation of the TIFIA Program since the July 6, 2012 enactment of MAP-21. 

While touting the overall success of the TIFIA program and detailing USDOT’s efforts to move projects through the TIFIA pipeline, Secretary Foxx also announced ...

In other TIFIA news . . .  

Yesterday, the TIFIA Program Office released updated TIFIA program guidance and loan document templates that purport to reflect the July 6, 2012 enactment of MAP-21.  Among other revisions, the TIFIA Program Guide has been updated to reflect MAP-21’s endorsement of a rolling application process and the imposition of specific statutory deadlines on processing applications.

While the updated TIFIA guidance documents offer welcome support to current and prospective TIFIA applicants, there appears to be at least some additional work to be done to update the ...

Commuters using the heavily congested SR-91 corridor between Riverside and Orange County in Southern California can enjoy an early July 4th celebration—on July 3, 2013, the Riverside County Transportation Commission closed on a billion dollars of financing for the SR-91 project which will provide needed relief of congestion in the corridor when the project is completed in May of 2017.  RCTC achieved financial close on the project less than 60 days after awarding the design-build contract for the project to a joint venture of Atkinson/Walsh.  The SR-91 corridor improvement ...

As we have previously reported,  the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) recently adopted policies requiring Buy America compliance for utility relocations for federally funded transportation projects in cases where the utility performs relocation work.  On June 28, 2013, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), American Public Transportation Association (APTA), streetcar project sponsors, and associations representing electric, gas and broadband utilities sent a joint letter to the ...

After achieving several P3 project milestones and awards in 2012, Virginia’s Office of Transportation Public-Private Partnerships (OTP3) on behalf of the Commonwealth of Virginia released a draft document entitled 2013 Virginia PPTA Project Pipeline for public comment.  The document identified the following 10 projects as potential P3 projects to be procured under Virginia’s Public-Private Transportation Act:

• I-66 Corridor Improvements
• Air Rights Development
• I-64 HOV to HOT Lane Conversion
• I-64 Peninsula Improvements
• Hampton Roads Crossing Improvements
• I-73 ...

On June 27th, Florida Governor Rick Scott signed a bill into law that gives counties, municipalities, school boards and other political subdivisions in the Sunshine State authority to enter into public-private partnership (P3) agreements for facilities that serve a public purpose.  The bill - HB 85 - authorizes P3s for a wide range of facilities, including education facilities, transportation facilities, water / wastewater facilities, roads, highways and bridges, healthcare facilities and sporting or cultural facilities.  The bill does not cover the Florida Department of ...

As we previously reported in April, organizations that annually recognize top projects and industry organizations worldwide have proven that they are no longer focusing solely on mega-projects that are part of major design-build contracts.  This was apparent at the Partnerships Awards hosted by Partnerships Bulletin and PPP Bulletin International on May 23, 2013, where numerous US agencies and projects received recognition.

The Commonwealth of Virginia’s Office of Transportation Public-Private Partnerships received the distinction of Best Central/Regional ...

Yesterday, the federal Surface Transportation Board (STB) authorized the California High-Speed Rail Authority (Authority) to construct the initial 65-mile segment of its passenger train system between Merced and Fresno, California.  The system will eventually connect the major population centers of the state on over 800 miles of rail lines, operating at speeds up to 220 mph.

"We welcome this decision and will continue to work with the Surface Transportation Board on the implementation of the nation's first high-speed rail program," said Jeff Morales, the Authority's chief ...

On June 5, 2013, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) announced the shortlist for the proposed I-4 Ultimate Project in Orange and Seminole Counties.

The Project includes the reconstruction of 21 miles of I-4 from west of Kirkman Road in Orange County to east of State Road 434 in Seminole County. The I-4 project adds four tolled express lanes to I-4 while maintaining the existing free general use lanes.

The shortlisted teams were selected based on qualification statements submitted on April 19, 2013 in response to the request for qualifications (RFQ) issued by FDOT on March ...

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), in cooperation with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), issued on May 31, 2013 a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for teams interested in submitting Statement of Qualifications (SOQs) to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the Accelerated Regional Transportation Improvements Project (the "ARTI" Project) through a public-private partnership (P3) agreement with Caltrans.

The ARTI Project consists of six elements, all of which are located in Los Angeles County, including ...

As we have previously reported, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has issued guidance holding that "Buy America applies to any utility work that is accomplished as a result of a Federal-aid highway project", unless the utility work cannot legally be reimbursed by the State.  This conclusion is based on an amendment to Buy America found in Section 1518 of MAP-21, which requires the application of Buy America to all contracts eligible for assistance within the scope of a project (as defined by the NEPA document), if at least one contract for the project is funded with Federal-aid ...

The Transportation Corridor Agencies recently named Neil Peterson the new CEO as of June 3.  A transportation industry veteran, Mr. Peterson succeeds Tom Margro, who retired last year.  TCA's Chief Communications Officer Lisa Telles has been acting CEO since Mr. Margro's retirement and will resume her role as CCO on June 3.

Mr. Peterson has a long history in the industry and joins TCA from CH2M Hill where he was a senior transportation strategy consultant.  Prior to that, he worked at Booz, Allen & Hamilton and served as executive director of the Los Angeles County Transportation ...

On April 24, 2013, Norfolk Southern (NS) CEO Wick Moorman spoke before the US House of Representatives Transportation Infrastructure Committee’s Special Panel on 21st Century Freight Transportation about the need to focus on long-term investments in railroad infrastructure.  The NS CEO stated that In the past decade Norfolk Southern helped locate 1,021 new and expanded facilities along Norfolk Southern rail lines, representing $28.7 billion in customer investment and generating more than 48,000 jobs. That’s just one railroad. What an incredible incentive to support ...

On May 17, 2013, the Texas Department of Transportation and AGL Constructors reached commercial close on the design-build and capital maintenance agreements for the I-35E Managed Lanes Project.  AGL Constructors is a joint venture comprised of Archer Western Contractors, LLC, Granite Construction Company and The LANE Construction Company. AGL Constructors was conditionally awarded the contract in December 2012, and was one of four teams the Texas Department of Transportation shortlisted for the project in early 2012.

The I-35E Managed Lanes Project is the first phase in a ...

On May 8th, 2013, the Riverside County Transportation Commission (RCTC) approved a $632 million dollar design-build contract for the SR-91 Corridor Improvement Project.  The design-builder is a joint venture between Atkinson Contractors, LP and Walsh Construction Company.  URS is the team’s lead designer.

RCTC had previously pre-qualified 4 teams for the project and issued the RFP on July 26, 2012:  The 4 pre-qualified teams were:  Atkinson/Walsh, a joint venture; Flatiron/Skanska/Rados, a joint venture; Shimmick/Obayashi/FNF, a joint venture; and Kiewit Infrastructure ...

The U.S. Department of Transportation announced Monday that it is making $474 million in financing available through its transportation investments grant program pursuant to the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013 (Pub. L. 113-6, March 26, 2013).  The appropriation is similar to the appropriation for the TIGER program and USDOT will continue to refer to the program as ‘‘TIGER Discretionary Grants.’’ As with previous rounds of TIGER, funds for the FY 2013 TIGER program will be awarded on a competitive basis for projects that will have a significant impact on the ...

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) announced on April 19, 2013 that it accepted Statements of Qualifications (SOQs) from seven proposers in response to a Request for Qualifications for the I-4 Ultimate Project.  The list of proposer teams may be found at the I-4 Ultimate Project website.

The project involves the reconstruction of over 21 miles of I-4 in Orange and Seminole Counties, including 19 major interchanges, 56 new bridges and 71 bridge replacements, and the addition of two managed toll lanes in each direction.  The estimated cost of the project is approximately ...

On May 1, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) will hold an industry forum to present initial concepts for several multimodal P3 projects that are being considered for the Sepulveda Pass Corridor in Los Angeles County.  The forum will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in the Ticket Room at Los Angeles Union Station.  Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe, and Art Leahy, Metro's CEO, are expected to address the forum attendees.

The projects under consideration include a high-capacity rail system and a tolled ...

Possibly lost in the shuffle of the rollout last week is the news that the President’s budget proposal (PDF) includes $130 million to help fund two significant transit system improvements in Los Angeles, the Regional Connector and the West Side Extension.

The Regional Connector would be a 1.9-mile underground line that would tie together the Gold, Blue and Expo lines and allow a one-seat ride from Montclair to Long Beach and from East Los Angeles to Santa Monica.  The West Side Extension would build out the Purple Line subway from Wilshire & Western to Westwood, a distance of 9.5 ...

The California High-Speed Rail Authority recently announced that a joint venture composed of Tutor Perini, Zachry Construction and Parsons has provided the apparent best value proposal for the initial design-build construction package of California's high-speed rail system located in the Central Valley. The Authority received four other proposals from Dragados/Samsung/Pulice (composed of  Dragados SA; Samsung C&T America and Pulice Construction), California Backbone Builders (composed of Ferrovial Argoman and Acciona), California High-Speed Rail Partners (composed ...

More evidence of the beneficial impacts of transit-oriented development has arrived in the form of a new property values study by the American Public Transportation Association, the Center for Neighborhood Technology and the National Association of Realtors.  

(See also our blog post regarding the EPA report released last month promoting funding mechanisms and other strategies for communities to provide more transit-oriented development.)  

The study found that homes closer to public transit performed 42 percent better (in terms of resilience of property values)  than those ...

This week the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) issued a Request for Information (RFI) requesting private sector involvement to collect best practices for delivery and financing of the planned Maryland National Capital Purple Line and Baltimore Red Line.  The proposed Maryland National Capital Purple Line is a 16-mile light rail transit line project that will extend between Bethesda and New Carrollton, Maryland.  The proposed Baltimore Red Line is a 14.1 mile, east-west transit line that will connect Woodlawn, Downtown Baltimore and Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center ...

Nossaman would like to congratulate the California Department of Transportation and the San Francisco County Transportation Authority for the Presidio Parkway Project's recognition as the "Best Real Estate Deal of the Year" in the category of Infrastructure/Public-Private Partnership by the San Francisco Business Times.  Winners were announced at the publication's annual awards dinner in San Francisco on March 20, 2013.

This recognition is the latest in a number of industry awards honoring the Presidio Parkway Project, which is the first transportation project to be procured ...

As the 2013 award season heats up for 2012 successes around the world, the juries are increasingly finding the US market hard to ignore. Infrastructure Journal and PPP Bulletin International, the two London-based media organizations that annually recognize top projects and industry organizations worldwide, have each announced their finalists for this year's best transportation transactions and firms. Focusing on public-private partnership projects as opposed to those mega-projects which are the subject of major design-build contracts, these organizations ...

In a proposed rule to be published today, April 1, 2013, in the Federal Register, the United States Environmental Protection Agency will withdraw the numeric effluent limits for construction stormwater turbidity that the agency previously had proposed in 2009.  EPA is now proposing a rule that specifies minimum Best Management Practices (BMPs) as effluent limitations for purposes of controlling  pollutants in construction site stormwater runoff.  In general,  the rule concludes that BMP-based effluent limits constitute both a technically feasible and a cost effective way to ...

Almost a year to the day from when the procurement began, the East End Crossing P3 project has achieved financial close.  Raising nearly $1 billion of public and private debt and equity funding, WVB East End Partners, made up of equal shares to WI East End (Walsh), VINCI Concessions Investments and Bilfinger East End Holdings, will now finalize design and begin construction of the project which consists of a new bridge over the Ohio River, a tunnel as part of the Kentucky approach, and a highway as part of the Indiana approach.  Indiana Finance Authority acts as the public sponsor under the ...

This year, the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) will be holding its 25th Annual Public-Private Partnership conference on July 24-26 in Washington, D.C.  To commemorate the silver anniversary of the conference, ARTBA has announced that a special cocktail reception and gala dinner will be held at the Smithsonian Museum of American History on the evening of July 25. 

Attendees will have exclusive access to the ARTBA-sponsored America on the Move exhibition currently on display at the museum.  The exhibition explores the role of transportation in American ...

Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) executed agreements on March 22 for the development of the SH 99 Grand Parkway project with Zachry-Odebrecht Parkway Builders, JV, a joint venture comprised of Zachry Construction Corporation and Odebrecht Construction Inc.  The agreements provide for the design, construction and long-term capital maintenance of the Grand Parkway project, a 38 mile, greenfield toll road in Houston.

Project Details

The high-priority project reaching final award consists of Segments F-1, F-2 and G of the Grand Parkway, part of a proposed 180+ mile ...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a report that details funding mechanisms and development strategies that communities can use to provide innovative financing options for transit-oriented development (TOD). 

The report affirms the need for local and state transportation agencies to continue to think beyond traditional funding, procurement and contracting approaches to satisfy their burgeoning infrastructure needs. 

Detailed in the report is an explanation of innovative financing mechanisms, which should be required reading for those interested ...

On March 12, 2013, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) issued a press release regarding their publication of a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) soliciting statements of qualifications from prospective private entities for development and implementation of a public-private partnership for the $2 billion+ Orlando-area project.  FDOT is seeking a private firm that is experienced in designing, building, financing, operating and maintaining both general use and managed lane roadways.

The I-4 Ultimate Project will be structured as an availability payment ...

On March 7, Project Finance Magazine held its annual Project Finance Americas Deals of the Year awards dinner in New York City.  The awards – which started 14 years ago – are for innovation, deal repeatability, best practice, problem solving, value for money and speed of delivery in the financing of infrastructure projects.  Two public-private partnership projects – one on the East coast and one on the West coast – received honors at this year’s dinner.     

The award for 2012 North America Toll Road Deal of the Year was given to the Midtown Tunnel project located in the Hampton Roads ...

The Design-Build Institute of America announced today the 2013 Design-Build in Transportation Awards, which will be presented on March 19, 2013 at the 2013 Design-Build in Transportation Conference in Orlando, Florida.

The California Department of Transportation was named 2013 Transportation Owner Agency of the Year.  Caltrans has made great strides with design-build recently through its Design-Build Demonstration Program.  Caltrans also reached financial close this year on its high profile Presidio Parkway project, which will use the design-build-finance-operate and ...