Infra Insight Blog

The first freeway lighting system public-private-partnership (P3) in the U.S. closed on August 24, 2015, with the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and Freeway Lighting Partners, LLC, (FLP) reaching simultaneous commercial and financial close.  The FLP team consists of Star America Infrastructure and Aldridge Electric, Inc. as equity owners with Aldridge Electric, Inc. also acting as the design-build contractor, Parsons Brinkerhoff, Inc. as the designer, and Cofely Services, Inc. acting as operations and maintenance provider.  The innovative street lighting ...

Three months after the May 15, 2015 issuance of a Request for Qualifications (RFQ), the SH 249 Extension Project is another step closer to development.  The RFQ solicited qualifications from teams interested in entering into a design-build contract and a comprehensive maintenance agreement for the Project.  Following a two-month process, which included questions and answers from interested industry participants and an industry workshop, TxDOT received Qualification Statements from seven teams on July 17, 2015. Over the next month, the Qualification Statements were evaluated ...

At the dedication celebration for the Gold Line’s Arcadia Station last weekend, Phil Washington, the CEO of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said he expects passenger service on the Gold Line to begin next spring. The exact date for start of service will be announced after the system is turned over to Metro for testing. Arcadia Mayor Gary Kovacic, who emceed the event, made a point of telling Mr. Washington (who recently moved to Los Angeles from Denver) that spring begins much earlier in Arcadia than in Denver, perhaps as early as December or January.

The ...

Hopes that the Congress would pass S. 1647, the Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy Act (DRIVE Act),  a six-year, $478 billion transportation funding reauthorization bill before the August recess have, like so many times before, come to naught.  Instead we get a three month extension of the current transportation funding and authorization law, MAP-21, that will provide $8 billion to allow current project funding and implementation to continue.

The three-month extension, H.R. 3236, the Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement ...

The long-awaited Presidio Parkway opened for the first time to Bay Area motorists on July 12th, ahead of schedule and to local and national praises.

The $1.1 billion Presidio Parkway replaces Doyle Drive – an outdated and seismically deficient viaduct – as San Francisco’s main connection to the Golden Gate Bridge.  The new 1.6-mile, six-lane roadway tucks elegantly into the natural contours of the historic Presidio of San Francisco, and enhances transit, pedestrian and bicycle access within the national park area.  The Presidio Parkway has received numerous honors ...

Drivers in the U.S. are seeing the benefits of toll roads, according to a new report published by the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA).   The 2015 Report on Tolling in the United States (June 30, 2015), indicates that U.S. drivers took 5.7 billion trips last year on toll roads, reflecting a 14% increase over the last four years.  The construction of new toll roads is also on the rise and thus may be contributing to the steady increase in toll traffic.

According to the Federal Highway Administration, the number of toll road miles in the U.S. increased from about ...

Experience with innovative procurements indicates that holding one-on-one meetings with proposers is beneficial whenever selection is based on a best value evaluation of competitive proposals—whether the procurement contemplates selection based on initial proposals or whether selection will be made following discussions and receipt of revised proposals.  Some agencies are unaccustomed to holding confidential meetings with proposers and we are often asked for information about best practices for these meetings.  This blog discusses the benefits of such meetings and ...

On June 1, 2015, a California Court of Appeal held that in order for a lease-leaseback arrangement to be enforceable, the lease must be genuine, containing both a financing component and a lease term that extends beyond the construction period (Davis v. Fresno Unified School District, et al. (2015) __CalRptr.3d__ [2015 WL 3454720].)

Background

In 2012, the Fresno Unified School District (District) entered into a negotiated agreement utilizing the lease-leaseback project delivery method for the construction of improvements at a District middle school.  The District leased the ...

Identifying and allocating the risks associated with right-of-way acquisition in design-build projects was a hot topic for the standing-room only crowd at last week’s annual Education Conference of the International Right of Way Association in San Diego, California.  Nossaman litigation/eminent domain partner Artin Shaverdian hosted a panel on Design-Build Projects and Right of Way Acquisition: Benefits, Challenges and Pitfalls. Questions from the audience during the interactive session focused on the various approaches that agencies have taken to allocate ...

Houston residents enjoyed free rides on Saturday, May 23, 2015 as part of the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO’s) opening of the Green (East End) and Purple (Southeast) light rail lines.  The two new lines are part of an approximately $1.22 Billion expansion of METRO’s existing light rail system which also includes a 5.3 mile extension to the Red (North) line that began service in December 2013.  With the addition of the two new lines, Houston’s light rail transit system increases from 12.5 miles to 23 miles.

Since the opening of the Red Line extension, from the ...