Infra Insight Blog

On November 16, challenges to the legality of the Presidio Parkway public-private partnership (P3) contract ended with a one sentence order from the California Supreme Court: The petition for review is denied.  Professional Engineers in California Government (PECG), the union representing Caltrans engineers, had asked the Supreme Court to review the Aug. 8, 2011, decision of the California Court of Appeal in San Francisco (First District), which unanimously held that Phase 2 of the Presidio Parkway project can move forward as a P3.  As a result, the California Department of ...

At its October 27 meeting, the Texas Transportation Commission approved the issuance of a request for qualifications for the Horseshoe Project in Dallas County.  The project will be the first under new design-build legislation passed by the Texas legislature during the 2011 session.  Subchapter F, Chapter 223, of the Transportation Code prescribes the process by which the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) may enter into a design-build contract with a private entity that provides for the design, construction, expansion, extension, related capital maintenance ...

Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21), the draft reauthorization bill unanimously voted out of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, contains major improvements to the TIFIA program that many, including those of us at Nossaman, have been advocating.  These changes, if enacted, will greatly expand availability and eliminate much of the uncertainty over whether a project will be selected.

• The bill eliminates virtually ALL of the selection criteria, converting availability from a discretionary competitive selection process to a simple objective ...

U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood plans to name Karen J. Hedlund as Deputy Administrator at the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).  Hedlund moves to the Deputy Administrator position from her current role as Chief Counsel at FRA, replacing Karen Rae, who Gov. Cuomo recently appointed as New York State Deputy Transportation Secretary.  Before moving to FRA, Hedlund served as Federal Highway Administration Chief Counsel from June 2009-June 2010, where she helped implement the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, including new investments in highway ...

On October 21, I participated on a panel regarding Successful Teaming at the 2011 DBIA Conference & Expo in Orlando, Fla.  In the broad sense, teaming in the design-build context is collaboration among all project participants to help foster integration and achieve win-win solutions for delivering a project.  The panel addressed best practices for drafting teaming agreements and promoting communication and integration among team members.  My presentation focused on why the owner is interested in teaming and how the owner can influence teaming arrangements.  Key takeaways from the ...

Our October 21 blog on managed lanes projects in Southern California talked about how three county transportation agencies are expanding on the success of the SR91 Express Lanes in Orange County, Calif., by using managed lanes to further relieve congestion and improve mobility in the region.  Not to be outdone by its Southern California cousins, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), the transportation planning and funding agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area, just received the blessing of the California Transportation Commission (CTC) to develop and ...

Today, DesertXpress Enterprises, LLC (DXE), a group of private investors, received authority from the U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB) to construct and operate a 190-mile dedicated high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas, NV and Victorville, CA. Once the line is constructed, trains will operate at up to 150 miles per hour and provide an energy-efficient alternative to automobile travel on the I-15 corridor and air travel between these two areas of the country.

DXE requested that the STB grant authority to construct and operate this line under an expedited review ...

Yesterday, the Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority (KABATA) announced its decision to shortlist three of six teams that submitted statements of qualifications for the Knik Arm Crossing project.  KABATA is procuring an availability payment public-private partnership for the $750 million project. Nossaman acts as KABATA's legal advisor for the procurement.
 
Michael Foster, KABATA's Board Chairman, said, "The process becomes very competitive from here on out. We expect to see some top notch proposals."
 
The shortlisted teams are:

Alaska Infrastructure Access Partners
Infrared ...

Southern California can’t say it’s number one when it comes to having the worst traffic congestion in the country, but it’s a huge economic and social problem for the region which three Southern California transportation agencies are addressing through the use of managed lanes.  That’s what we recently learned at the Women’s Transportation Seminar presentation on October 14, 2011.

On a panel moderated by Rick Backlund, an FHWA region official, we heard from Rose Casey, Program Manager for the Orange County Transportation Authority; Stephanie Wiggins, Executive ...

Ted Houghton is the new chair of the Texas Transportation Commission. Governor Rick Perry announced Houghton's appointment, effective October 7.  Houghton succeeds Deirdre Delisi, who recently resigned.  Delisi had served as chair since 2008.

Houghton was first appointed to the Commission in 2003 and was reappointed in 2009. A native of El Paso, Houghton is self-employed in the financial services industry. He is the first resident of El Paso to serve on the Commission.

"I'd like to thank Governor Perry for his trust in me to continue TxDOT down a path of responsiveness, change and ...