State Gets OK From Feds to Seek Private Funding

Texas plans to raise almost $2 billion for State Highway 121; also, studies demonstrate cost-effectiveness, congestion relief and improved emergency evacuation with Trans-Texas Corridor.

Texas Seeks $1.8 Billion in Private Activity Bonds for Highway Work

Texas can move forward with plans to raise more than $1.8 billion for work on SH 121 outside Dallas now that the federal government has approved the state’s request to seek private-sector funds.

Texas officials were the first to request and receive authorization from the U.S. Department of Transportation to pursue plans to pay for a highway project using Private Activity Bonds. Under the terms of the application, the state will hold a competition early this year to select a single private company with the authority to design and build the highway. The state would then need final DOT approval to issue up to $1.866 billion in Private Activity Bonds and transfer the proceeds to the company.

The department is considering a request from TxDOT for a Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act, or TIFIA, loan of up to $700 million to help pay for the project. TIFIA loans provide states the opportunity to borrow money and repay the loan using revenue generated from the new project. For example, Texas officials are proposing to repay the loan for SH 121 using toll money collected on the road.

TxDOT Study: TTC Will Ease Congestion, Emergency Evacuation

Two studies recently released by TxDOT state that the Trans-Texas Corridor will provide congestion relief and improve emergency evacuation.

One study, a conceptual analysis, looked at the amount of traffic that could be diverted from IH-35 to TTC-35 when the corridor is fully developed. The study, conducted by TxDOT, concluded that by 2014 approximately 18 percent of the total traffic on IH-35 between San Antonio and Austin could be diverted to TTC-35 and  could decrease by 24 percent by 2030.

By 2014, 15 percent of the traffic on IH-35 between Austin and Waco could be diverted with the addition of TTC-35, with a decrease of 23 percent by 2030.

Traffic on the interstate from Waco to Dallas could drop by 9 percent by 2014, with a decrease in total traffic of 20 percent by 2030.

The figures are more dramatic for truck traffic on the three stretches of IH-35. By 2030, truck traffic diverted to TTC-35 could be as high as 36 percent (San Antonio to Austin), 25 percent (Austin to Waco) and 26 percent (Waco to Dallas).

Another TxDOT study looked at how TTC-35 could expedite the evacuation of cities along IH-35. The study found that TTC-35 could reduce the relative time it takes to evacuate Laredo by 66 percent, San Antonio and Austin by 46 percent, Waco by 75 percent and Dallas-Fort Worth by nearly 17 percent.

The time savings are based on the assumption that TTC-35 would be temporarily converted to one-way operation away from metropolitan areas.

TTC to Boost Texas Economy, Private Study Indicates

The economic benefits to Texas from the Trans-Texas Corridor, or TTC, will be substantial and grow over time injecting billions of dollars in private spending into the state’s economy and creating millions of jobs, according to a recently released study.

Ray Perryman and the Perryman Group of Waco were commissioned by TxDOT to prepare the report in response to public demand for information on what TTC will mean to the Texas economy.

"Moving Into Prosperity: The Potential Impact of the Trans-Texas Corridor on Business Activity in Texas" states that the TTC will fundamentally shift the Texas economy into a more competitive position for years to come.

TxDOT Awards Contract for Surface Transportation Projects

The Texas Turnpike Authority of TxDOT recently awarded a two-year procurement engineering contract to San Francisco-based URS Corp.

URS will work with financial advisers and attorneys to assist TxDOT in the procurement of transportation concessions, which will utilize the equity and bond markets to finance major improvements. Contracts for the turnpike authority will be delivered through comprehensive development agreements, which are the equivalent of design-build-finance-operate agreements.

URS’ first assignment is involves the $2 billion U.S. 281/Loop 1604 project in San Antonio designed to reduce congestion by improvement of four major interchanges; the provision of additional lanes to Loop 1604; and two frontage road lanes in each direction. Only the additional lanes will be tolled.