Infra Insight Blog

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 ...

North Carolina, acting through the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), reached a major milestone on May 20, 2015 when financial close was achieved on the I-77 Express Lanes Project – the first highway public-private partnership in the state.  The project, with a design and construction cost estimated at approximately $591 million, will add 26 miles of tolled, express lanes along the existing I-77 corridor in the Charlotte region.  The financing package includes $100 million of private activity bonds and a $189 million TIFIA loan from the U.S. Department of ...

On May 15, 2015, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and Lane-Abrams Joint Venture  (DB Contractor) entered into a design-build contract (DBA) and associated comprehensive maintenance agreement (COMA) for the approximately $300 million SH 360 Project (the Project).

Pursuant to the DBA, DB Contractor will design and construct and potentially maintain approximately 9.7 miles of improvements to SH 360 consisting of two toll lanes in each direction from approximately Green Oaks Blvd/Kingswood Blvd to US 287, in addition to frontage road and intersection improvements.  ...

To help promote Infrastructure Week—which brings together thousands of stakeholders from around the country to highlight the critical importance of investing in and modernizing America’s infrastructure systems, and the essential role infrastructure plays in our economy—Nossaman is reposting this article on California’s infrastructure needs. To learn more about Infrastructure Week, which runs May 11-May 15, please visit www.infrastructureweek.org or follow Infrastructure Week on Twitter @RebuildRenew.

California is the most populous state in the Country; ...

As part of Infrastructure Week, 2015, several interested organizations banded together for an afternoon meeting on Monday, May 11, that focused on public-private partnerships as a way out of the infrastructure crunch.  Projects, big and small, stand to benefit from engaging the private sector to solve an array of infrastructure challenges.  The event was hosted by the Pew Charitable Trusts, and moderated by Cleveland City Councilman Matt Zone, who is also the 2^nd Vice President of National League of Cities (NLC).  Art Smith, President of the National Council for Public-Private ...

The Regents of the University of California, on behalf of the University of California, Merced, issued a draft Request for Proposals (RFP) for the UC Merced 2020 Project on May 7, 2015.  The draft RFP was provided to the three proposers that were shortlisted in January 2015:

• E3 2020:  Balfour Beatty Investments, Inc.

• EP2 Developers:  Edgemoor Infrastructure & Real Estate LLC, Plenary Group (Canada) Ltd., and Education Realty Trust, Inc.

• Merced Campus Collaborative:Lend Lease (US) Investments, Inc., Macquarie Capital Group Ltd., and ACC OP Development LLC

According to ...

The Texas Transportation Commission has conditionally awarded a comprehensive development agreement to Flatiron/Dragados for the longest cable stayed bridge in the United States.  The new Corpus Christi Harbor Bridge will allow larger ships to deliver their cargo to the Port of Corpus Christi, serving as an economic catalyst for the region and the State of Texas.

The conditional award, which took place at the April 30 meeting of the Texas Transportation Commission, authorizes TxDOT and Flatiron/Dragados to enter final negotiations for the design, construction, finance and ...

On March 31, 2015, Congressman John K. Delaney (D-MD) spoke at the Washington Briefing of the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBBTA) in Washington, DC. At the event, Congressman Delaney provided an update on a bipartisan bill he has sponsored known as The Infrastructure 2.0 Act to fund the federal highway program. The bill uses international corporate tax reform to provide a six-year funding source for the Highway Trust Fund. Specifically, the bill establishes a mandatory, one-time 8.75% tax on existing overseas profits accumulated by U.S. multi-national ...

Federal transportation officials are contemplating new contract rules that would make it easier for states and cities to hire local residents to work on transportation projects.  Federal rules currently prohibit the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) from allowing contract provisions that do not directly relate to the bidder's performance of work.  Thus, local hiring provisions have not been allowed in procurements for federally funded projects.  This month, however, U.S. Transportation Secretary, Anthony Foxx, announced a ...