P3

S1230 "Protecting Taxpayers in Transportation Asset Transfers Act" is being pushed by Democrats in the US Senate. It's a bill that seems likely to seriously handicap any state efforts to concession out government owned tollroads. It would give the US SEcretary of Transportation broad powers to approve or disallow any state or local road concession where there some US Government funding in its past.

Georgia generated shock waves in infrastructure investment circles with an announcement  last night that it was canceling the managed or toll lanes procurement for GA/I-75 and I-575 to the northwest of Atlanta. The project had seemed to be well past the point of no return.

New York State DOT's abandonment of a project to rebuild the 70 year old Brooklyn Queens Expressway (BQE) and a connecting portion of the Gowanus Expressway for lack of money has produced calls to reconsider it with toll financing and public private partnerships (P3s).

Missouri department of transportation (MoDOT) is pushing the state legislature to support their move to get 200 miles, 320km of MO/I-70 rebuilt and widened with a longterm toll concession or public private partnership (P3).

Big toll highway improvement projects are moving in the Chicago IL and Dallas TX areas.

For some $12 billion of improvements planned over 15 years the Illinois Tollway is looking for project management services worth about $200m - let's revise that: expected to cost about $200m - for

(1) the $3.1b Elgin O'Hare Bypass project around the south and west of the Chicago area's big airport

(2) a $600m+ rebuild and expansion of the I-57/Tristate Tollway I-294 interchange and

TOLLROADSnews has come into possession of a recording of a recent telephone conversation between New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (CC) and Frank McCartney (FMcC), executive director of the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission on the matter of a public private partnership (P3) to revamp the Scudder Falls Bridge on I-95 near Trenton. A guy with a Cockney accent called: "just hunred poonds, mighty cheap it is."

Four stalled toll projects in Virginia will share in $1,500m in state funding, according to Virginia secretary of transportation, Sean T Connaughton. This is close to 40% of the $3,861m announced for highway projects by the new Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell as his Transportation Agenda Jan 14. According to Connaughton the four projects to share the $1500m of state funding are:

David Alvarez head of the new Puerto Rico Public Private Partnerships Authority (PPPA) says they're excited to have tollroads in their first privatization.

The Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) in the Phoenix area is looking for consultants to examine the feasibility of toll concessions to fund toll-managed or HOT lanes in the Phoenix metro area.  This follows enabling legislation for public private partnerships.

His staff are looking at privatization of the Ohio Turnpike, says incoming state governor John Kasich. But capital markets at this time may not support a good deal for the state, he's saying in answer to reporters' questions. "Everything is on the table," he said this week.