Infra Insight Blog

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 ...