Infra Insight Blog

On April 7, 2010, the California Transportation Commission (CTC) authorized the first two regional design-build projects under the state's innovative contracting authority under Senate Bill 4, SBX2 4. 

• The ExpressLane Project is a joint state/local project of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) and the Department of Transportation (Caltrans), which will be implemented by Caltrans.  The project will convert existing carpool lanes on Interstates 10 and 110 to high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes, or ExpressLanes.
  

   

• The Riverside County ...

State and local strategies to bridge the gap between traditional funding and current needs – which has been referred to as alternative finance – are now becoming mainstream. 

Consider Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s plan to speed up the development of LA’s transit infrastructure, which the LA Times reports would include financing from ‘a combination of private financing and bonds, such as Build America Bonds, established in the economic recovery bill to cut interest costs for local and state infrastructure projects.’ 

In fact, this model has already been ...

A week after the Project Finance Awards honored the Florida deals, the Infrastructure Journal Awards honored the Texas DOT’s North Tarrant Express project as its 2009 Global Transport Deal of the Year. The Florida DOT’s I-595 Project was nominated along with one other project for the honor.

The North Tarrant Express was nominated with two other projects for the IJ’s 2009 Global Deal of the Year – which selects from projects in all sectors, including: power, renewables, oil and gas, PPPs, and transport.

Nossaman was nominated along with two other law firms for the 2009 ...

The White House’s Council on Environmental Quality has issued two draft guidance memos regarding important NEPA compliance issues that may add another regulatory layer to infrastructure project development.

The draft guidelines on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, issued on February 18, 2010, require that environmental impact evaluations by federal agencies address GHG.  Among other things, federal agencies are required to quantify and describe expected direct and indirect GHG emissions, to discuss measures to reduce GHG emissions, and to qualitatively discuss the link ...

The Port of Miami Tunnel Improvement Project was named the 2009 Global Deal of the Year and the 2009 North American PPP Deal of the Year by Project Finance Magazine

The I-595 Corridor Roadway Improvements Project was named the 2009 North American Transport Deal of the Year

Project Finance Magazine, a leading global infrastructure industry trade publication, announced the honors at its awards ceremony in New York on March 4th and profiles both the Port of Miami Tunnel and I-595 projects in its current issue. Nossaman is honored to have had the opportunity to work on both of ...

USDOT Announces $1.5 Billion in TIGER Grants – $60M in TIFIA Allocations

On February 17, the one year anniversary of the landmark American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, USDOT announced the final list of TIGER grant recipients. Grants range in size from $3.15M for a roadway rehabilitation/reconstruction in Burlington, VT to a $105M grant for construction of two new intermodal facilities in Memphis, TN and Birmingham, AL to support freight rail service from the Gulf Coast to the Mid-Atlantic.

When combined with state and private funds, the TIGER funds will support ...

On February 11, 2010, the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) posted a Notice of Intent to Issue a Request for Qualifications for the West by Northwest Project.  The notice of intent marks the initiation of GDOT's first P3 project under its new P3 program.  The notice of intent, is available on online at http://ssl.doas.state.ga.us/PRSapp/PublicBidNotice?bid_op=1048400NOI-484-050310P3.  GDOT intends to award a concession to design, construct, finance, operate and maintain a 29-mile segment  of managed lanes along I-75  and I-575, as well as enter into a ...

Yesterday the California Department of Transportation, in cooperation with the San Francisco County Transportation Authority, issued a Request for Qualifications for a public-private partnership for the Presidio Parkway project (also known as the Doyle Drive replacement project) in San Francisco.  The RFQ is available at: http://www.bidsync.com/DPX?ac=view&auc=610389

This is the first procurement initiated under the new public-private partnership law in California, SB4, codified at Section 143 of the Streets and Highways Code.

Under Section 143, the project must be ...

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…  Dickens could have been describing 2009, as the P3 market continued to look strong, notwithstanding the economic downturn. Last year three significant P3 deals reached financial close in the United States: in March the I-595 in Florida, in October the Port of Miami Tunnel also in Florida, and mid-December the North Tarrant Express in Texas. All were remarkable in their own right, and cumulatively earned Nossaman the top spot in Infrastructure Journal’s league tables in the North American Transport P3 legal advisor category.

We take a look back at what made the deals remarkable and what 2010 might bring…

For the 89^th year, January brings new ideas in transportation. The 89^th Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting will be held in Washington D.C., January 10-14. 

Reflecting the theme of Investing in Our Transportation Future – BOLD Ideas to Meet BIG Challenges, Nossaman Partner Geoffrey Yarema will give a presentation titled "P3 Successes and Lessons Learned" on January 10. Nossaman Partner Nancy Smith will give a presentation titled "Public-Private Partnership Update" on January 11. 

We look forward to discussing and learning with others.