TX AL GA VA SC PA NB Many new pikes roll

TX AL GA VA SC PA NB

Many new pikes roll

A bunch of new pikes are on the roll in North America. The center of the news is the south.

• TX-130 paralleling I-35 in the San Antonio-Austin corridor is perhaps the most spectacular project to burst on the scene. The state has just decided this 130km route should be a toll road and this month a private group Road & Bridge Builders Inc says it wants to build it. And there are 3 other toll roads in prospect in the Texas capital that the head of the Texas Turnpike Division of TXDOT tells us he thinks are ‘goers.’ He wants proposals. (see pXX)

• United Toll Systems AL: great interest is being spurred in the $5m to $30m midi-pike range by the work of private tollster Jim Allen of United Toll Systems which opens pikes in Montgomery and Tuscaloosa AL this year. He is looking at others to build in the same price bracket (see p XXX).

Also for more detailed coverage in future issues:

• Trinity Parkway, Dallas TX : to be the largest central city toll road in years, 2x4-lanes 16km long to be built on either side of the restored Trinity River city park, this will provide a major enhancement of road capacity on the western side of the Dallas Central Busines District, going from US-175 at its current end on I-45 to bypass the Canyon/Mixmaster and highways on the westerne edge of the CBD to join I-35E 10km northwest of the CBD at TX-114/I-35E IC. It will have 11 interchanges . The roadways are being integrated into flood control levees and there is extensive integration of the pike design with the park landscape and amenities. The cost of the roadworks is about $1b. The project is through the MIS/EIS process and has been sleected as tyhe Locally Preferred Alternative in a public consultation process and received support from city, county and other authorities.

• Camino-Colombia Toll Road TX: a 35km 1x2-lane direct connection for trucks from I-35 (near US-83) to the Nuevo Leon border crossing of Colombia seems near to raising the $70m to begin moving dirt. The investors led by Carlos Y Benabides III have Raytheon Constructors signed to build and Lehman Bros is working on a private bond placement. The Colombia Bridge is a considerably more efficient border crossing according to local observers than the two older bridges in downtwon Laredo 24km downstream on the Rio Grande. Loaded truck traffic is about 1200/day at the Colombia, and this will be considerably enhanced if a long discussed toll road from Colombia to La Gloria Mexico is completed, providing a shorter motorway standard route between San Antonio TX and Monterey Mexico. The Camino-Columbia toll road and the Colombia 3rd Laredo Bridge have to compete with a 4th bridge currently in design in the western part of the Laredo built-up area. Like bridges 1 and 2 in downtown Laredo this toll bridge will be owned and operated by the City of Laredo. John McCray, an Austin TX authority on trade says that the skill and connections of customs brokers and trucking facilities are key to the success of border crossings, and that the Camino-Colombia will have considerable potential for industrial and warehousing developments

• Southern Connector: in Greenville South Carolina should close on $201m of bonds this month and break ground within months as the first 6320 developer’s not-for-profit pike according to Lehman Bros. Standard & Poors gave it an investment grade rating (BBB-) and developer DLR has formed a new company (Why didn’t anyone think of this before?) which it says will insulate the project from litigation in Arizona that previously seemed to jeopardize it (see TRnl#17 July 97 p1.) This is a 26km 2x2-lane southern beltway and industrial development roadway for a thriving pro-business metro area of 0.9m with 6 interchanges, 4 river and 2 rail crossings with 2 mainline toll plazas and 4 ramp plazas. It is forecast to open in 2001 with 15k tolls/day at one mainline plaza and 13k at the other.

Other pikes moving are:

• Cross Island Parkway: SC’s first turnpike which opened on Hilton Head Island , a big project for a small island

• Westpark Corridor HOV/HOT facility west of the Houston area is moving into contract and the only question is whether it should be held a few months for completion of a study on parallel toll lanes by the Harris Co pike.

• Southwest Toll Road Fort Worth TX a major in planning. North Texas Tollway Authority ihas commissione dsome studies with more to follow.

• I-895, Richmond VA officially the Pocahontas Parkway , most of the obstacles seem to have been cleared for this not-for-profit developer toll road, providing a new route to the airport of the capital of the Confederacy and the associated industrial area. Major feature is a difficult interchange on I-95 which runs along the James River and a high level bridge over the river with full shipping clearance. With election of an anti car-tax guvnr chances are improved of movement on this and on stalled toll tunnel projects in Norfolk VA

• Northern Arc of Atlanta’s Outer Perimeter goes into major investment study, may be a pike following great success of GA-400, the state’s first

• Orlando’s Western Exwy, FL-429 in final design, Part A 17km, 6 ICs, $240m to be followed by Part C 30km 5 ICs. Both serve the entertainment (Disney etc) areas of western Orlando and provide new north-south mobility, this is a project of the Orlando-Orange Co Expwy Auth, tho also claimed by Florida’s Turnpike

• Pittsburgh’s Southern Beltway $150m first stage has completed Final Enviro Impact status. Provides a new access route from the south to Pittsburgh airport and the thriving area around it. From the main entry to the aiport at PA-60 the route of the Findlay Connector as it is called goes 10km southwest with intechanges at US-30 and Bald Knob Rd, finishing at US-22 nr Candor Rd. This is part of a 50km toll mwy network to tie the south of this metro area and the Mon Valley to the Interstate system and the airport. Construction work proceeds on 27km of the Mon/Fayette Expwy in the Monongahela Valley south of Pittsburgh. The Southern Beltway’s eastern end will tie in with this new section of road, part of a $2 billion network of new roads in SW Pennsylvania being built over a 15 year period.

• Fredericton-Moncton toll road in New Brunswick in the Maritime provinces of Canada this will be the longest pike (195km) to be built on the continent since the major US pikes were built in the 1950s. Work starts soon with the c oncessionaire just selected —Maritime Road Development Corp formed of Miller Paving (Ontario), Dragados (Spain) and GTMI (Quebec). The group bid construction of the project for $420m, which undercut the government estimate of cost and bids by CHIC and another contender by $150m. Total project cost is put at $620m. About 80% of the cost is to be supported by a complex lease back arrangement with the provincial government while 20% will be toll-secured debt. Traffic volumes are expected to be quite small (under 10k vehs/day over most of the road.) It is being justified on economic development and safety grounds. The road which will be 2x2-lanes and full mwy standard is due to have 20 interchanges and 5 major river crossings. 29km will be cut between Fredericton and Moncton because the new route is more direct and a time savings of 35 mins. Heavy trucks will be prohibited from the old parallel free road and forced to take the pike. Cars will pay 2.5c/km for a maximum toll of $5 while trucks will pay 1.5c/axle/km and about $20/full trip for a tractor-trailer.