Infra Insight Blog

SH 130 Concession Company, the private entity that operates and maintains the 41-mile southern section of State Highway 130, has emerged from Chapter 11 protection with new ownership, new senior management and $260 million in new financing. The financial reorganization has removed $1.4 billion in debt from the balance sheet of SH 130 Concession Company and will significantly improve the liquidity of the business.

SH 130 Concession Co. operates and maintains Segments 5 & 6 of SH 130 from Mustang Ridge to Seguin, Texas. The road is owned by the Texas Department of Transportation, which ...

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 ...

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.  ...

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 ...

In the modern U.S. history of public-private partnerships, the prevailing project delivery models have been the toll concession and the availability payment contract.  In both cases, the private party raises equity and debt financing and takes responsibility and risk for completing design, constructing and providing long-term operations and maintenance.  The major difference between the two is that in the toll concession the private party takes the revenue risk and secures its debt with project toll revenues, while the public owner takes the project revenue risk under an ...

On July 31, 2014, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) soliciting qualifications from teams interested in entering into a design-build contract and a comprehensive maintenance agreement for the Grand Parkway Segments H, I-1 and I-2 Project.  Following a two-month process, which included questions and answers from interested industry participants and an industry workshop, TxDOT received Qualification Statements on September 30, 2014. Over the next month, the Qualification Statements were evaluated by TxDOT.  On October ...

On August 22, 2014, the Texas Department of Transportation and Abrams-Kiewit Joint Venture (Developer) reached commercial close on the Loop 375 Border Highway West Extension Project (Project).  The contract, which includes design-build and comprehensive maintenance agreements (collectively the CDA), was conditionally awarded to the Developer in April of this year.  Developer is a joint venture consisting of J.D. Abrams and Kiewit Infrastructure South Co.

The Project is located west of downtown El Paso, south of Interstate Highway 10 (I-10) and extends approximately nine ...

The North Tarrant Express Segments 3A & 3B Project (Project) reached financial close earlier today.  The Project will provide over $1.5 billion of needed infrastructure to the Fort Worth area, as well as operations and maintenance over the next several decades.  The Project will expand Interstate 35W in north Fort Worth, one of the region’s top priorities for congestion relief.  Segments 3A and 3B are the primary focus of the North Tarrant Express Master Development Plan, and will add approximately 10 miles of I-35W to the North Tarrant Express project.

Pursuant to the agreement ...

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 ...

As the 2013 award season heats up for 2012 successes around the world, the juries are increasingly finding the US market hard to ignore. Infrastructure Journal and PPP Bulletin International, the two London-based media organizations that annually recognize top projects and industry organizations worldwide, have each announced their finalists for this year's best transportation transactions and firms. Focusing on public-private partnership projects as opposed to those mega-projects which are the subject of major design-build contracts, these organizations ...

Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) executed agreements on March 22 for the development of the SH 99 Grand Parkway project with Zachry-Odebrecht Parkway Builders, JV, a joint venture comprised of Zachry Construction Corporation and Odebrecht Construction Inc.  The agreements provide for the design, construction and long-term capital maintenance of the Grand Parkway project, a 38 mile, greenfield toll road in Houston.

Project Details

The high-priority project reaching final award consists of Segments F-1, F-2 and G of the Grand Parkway, part of a proposed 180+ mile ...

Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) officials executed a Facility Agreement  with NTE Mobility Partners Segments 3 LLC (Developer) on March 1 for Segments 3A and 3B of the North Tarrant Express project in northeast Tarrant County.  The agreement provides for the expansion of Interstate 35W in north Fort Worth, one of the region’s top priorities for congestion relief.  Segments 3A and 3B are the primary focus of the North Tarrant Express Master Development Plan, and will add approximately 10 miles of I-35W to the North Tarrant Express project.

Pursuant to the Facility ...

On December 13, 2012, the Texas Transportation Commission conditionally awarded the design-build and capital maintenance agreements for the IH 35E Managed Lanes Project to AGL Constructors, a joint venture comprised of Archer Western Contractors, LLC, Granite Construction Company and The LANE Construction Company. AGL Constructors was one of four teams the Texas Department of Transportation shortlisted for the project earlier this year. The other proposer teams included:

• Dallas to Denton Constructors, a joint venture comprised of Zachry Construction Corporation and ...

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and SH 130 Concession Company have announced the opening of Central Texas' newest toll road on October 24.  SH 130 Segments 5&6 is a 41-mile extension of the existing 50-mile SH 130 toll system that currently connects Georgetown to South Austin.  The new toll road extension starts at Mustang Ridge, spanning three counties and ending at Interstate 10 near Seguin. 

The new toll road is entirely automated, and will be fully interoperable with the existing SH 130 toll system so that travel between various segments will be seamless.  The new ...

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has reached a tentative, $1.6 billion deal with a private developer to expand Interstate 35W in north Fort Worth.  According to a report released by TxDOT in late August, the stretch of I-35W in northern Tarrant County that is the subject of the agreement is the most congested roadway in the state - causing motorists to collectively waste more than 2 million hours.  The deal between TxDOT and the developer, an affiliate of the entity that is currently developing the $2.5 billion North Tarrant Express project in northeast Tarrant County, will ...

On April 26, 2012, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) announced the shortlist for the proposed IH 35E Managed Lanes Project in Dallas and Denton Counties.  The shortlisted teams were selected based on qualification statements submitted on March 23, 2012 in response to the request for qualifications (RFQ) issued by TxDOT on January 23, 2012.

The RFQ solicited separate qualification statements from teams with experience in design-build and toll concession contracting.  TxDOT decided to move forward with the design-build alternative with a capital maintenance option.  ...

On Dec. 9, 2012, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) soliciting qualifications from teams interested in entering into a design-build contract and a potential capital maintenance agreement for the Dallas Horseshoe Project.  Following a three-month process, which included questions and answers from interested industry participants, TxDOT received seven Qualification Statemelnts on Feb. 22, 2012.  Over the next month, the Qualification Statements were evaluated by TxDOT.  On March 29, 2012, TxDOT announced the short list of ...

On January 23, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) soliciting qualifications from private developers interested in entering into a design-build contract and capital maintenance agreement and/or a toll concession agreement for the IH 35E Managed Lanes Project. The RFQ provides prospective developers the opportunity to submit qualifications for one or both of the two public-private partnership (P3) methods. Qualification submittals for the project are due March 23, 2012.   

IH 35E serves the rapidly growing areas 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 ...

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 ...

At its first regular meeting since the retirement of Amadeo Saenz, Jr. at the end of August, the Texas Transportation Commission named its choice for his replacement.  Effective October 17, 2011, former Texas Secretary of State Phil Wilson began his new job as TxDOT’s 19th Executive Director.  Mr. Wilson comes to TxDOT from Luminant, a Dallas-based electric generation company, where he was the senior vice president of public affairs.

In addition to his position as Texas’ Secretary of State, Mr. Wilson’s history of public service includes time working for both former U.S ...

Producing ground breaking advancements in transportation infrastructure is not without its challenges, highlighting the importance of celebrating each success. Today our client, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and the organization’s Executive Director, Amadeo Saenz, are being recognized for their paradigm shifting approach to building roads.

The American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) is holding their 22nd Annual Public Private Partnerships in Transportation Conference in the nation’s capital. In what is being called a sweep ...

On June 22, 2010 the Texas Department of Transportation’s I-635 project became the first U.S. highway public-private partnership (P3) to achieve financial close in 2010. LBJ Infrastructure Group - a Cintra-led consortium - will build, finance, maintain and operate a 17-mile corridor which includes managed lanes in the congested Dallas-Fort Worth area. This project along with the North Tarrant Express (NTE), one of three U.S. transportation P3s to close in 2009, are nationally significant for advancing the use of managed lanes to address congestion.

The projects are notable ...

At the June 2009 meeting of the Texas Transportation Commission, TxDOT Assistant Director Phil Russell provided a first look at a proposed Rail Division for TxDOT, focusing on both passenger and freight rail planning for the future.  If created, the new  Rail Division would have a Rail Division Director, with  four departments under that to-be-named person's purview including Operations, Railroad Crossings, Safety and Project Development.

Commissioners indicated that it would be a wise move to create a Rail Division.  Commissioner Bill Meadows voiced that "the Commission needs ...