Infra Insight Blog : written by Nossaman LLP Infrastructure attorneys, covers infrastructure project delivery, including Public-Private Partnerships, Operations & Management Agreements, policy, and news.

The Riverside County Transportation Commission, which oversees funding and coordination of all public transportation services within Riverside County, is seeking a Toll Project Manager to manage delivery of toll projects from the environmental phase through design and construction.

This is a contract employee position that will terminate upon project completion or at the discretion of the RCTC. It is expected that the initial contract term will be three years and may be extended based on the needs of the toll program and RCTC.

Ideal candidates should have advanced knowledge of principles, practices, and techniques of project and program management for capital projects; regulatory requirements and guidelines associated with project delivery and expenditure of local, regional, state, and federal transportation funds for capital projects; standard cost estimation and value engineering techniques; report writing methods and presentation techniques; customer relations.

Candidates meeting the requirements and interested in applying for the positions must complete an application. A complete job description is available through the RCTC web site or by calling RCTC Offices at (951) 787-7141. A completed RCTC application must be submitted with a resume and salary history by June 15, 2011. Completed applications can be submitted to Riverside County Transportation Commission, Attn: Human Resources, PO Box 12008, Riverside, CA, 92502-2208; or submitted via email to mcisneros@rctc.org.

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Monday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced an additional $2 billion in High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Program funding, bringing the total awards for the program to $10.1 billion.  USDOT distributed the $2 billion to 22 projects in 15 states, but three big winners together received over $1.8 billion or about 90 percent of the additional money.

We said we will roll out our view of the big winners on three successive days, in reverse order.  On Monday, we explained why we think California is the third biggest winner in this latest round of funding. Yesterday, we outlined the package of funded projects that make the Midwest region the second biggest winner.

Today, we tell you why we think the biggest winner of all in the latest round is the Northeast Corridor, which runs from Washington, DC, to Boston, including stops in Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and Providence.  All together, USDOT awarded $795 million to the projects on the Northeast Corridor, including $450 million for power, track, and signal improvements on a 24-mile stretch between New Brunswick and Trenton, NJ; $295 million to unsnarl an interlocking in Queens, NY; and a total of $50 million for preliminary engineering and environmental work for a bridge replacement on the Susquehanna River and station improvements in Kingston and Providence, RI.

The $450 million awarded to Amtrak for the New Brunswick to Trenton corridor project will boost capacity, reliability, and speed in this heavily-used segment of the Northeast Corridor by adding high-tension catenary, upgraded power facilities, and high-speed interlockings.  The award also will fund track and interlocking upgrades between Morrisville, PA, and Trenton and at New York Penn Station.

The $295 million awarded to New York DOT will pay for new routings through Harold Interlocking in Queens, NY, one of the busiest passenger rail interlockings in the nation, allowing Amtrak through trains to/from New York or Boston to bypass the interlocking.  The project also will improve access to nearby Sunnyside Yard.

In March, Secretary LaHood designated the Northeast Corridor as a federally-recognized high-speed rail corridor, making Amtrak eligible to compete for this round of funding awards.  Several Democratic senators from Northeast Corridor states praised this designation and issued a statement applauding Monday’s awards.

Not all influential elected officials were as sanguine.  House T&I Committee Chairman John Mica (R-FL), a strong supporter of improved passenger service on the Northeast Corridor, issued a statement on the announced awards: “. . . with Amtrak’s plan to spend $117 billion over the next 30 years, the Administration continues to take a piecemeal approach to improving the NEC.  We need a comprehensive, responsible plan for the Northeast Corridor, and Amtrak – our nation’s Soviet-style passenger rail service – is incapable of carrying out a project of this scope and significance.  We need to bring in the private sector to finance, design, build, operate and maintain true high-speed service in the Northeast Corridor if we are going to have any chance of success.”

Peter W. Denton also contributed to this post.

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As discussed in yesterday's post on California, three big winners have emerged from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s announcement of $2 billion in federal funds to 15 states for 22 different high-speed and intercity passenger rail projects.  The second biggest winner of this funding round is the Midwest region.

Illinois received $186 million for upgrades and improvements to the Chicago – St. Louis corridor between Dwight and Joliet, Ill., to allow trains to operate at 110 mph (from 79 mph) and increase operational flexibility and reliability.  Also on the Chicago – St. Louis corridor, Missouri received $13.5 million for design work on a new span to replace the circa-1890 Merchant’s Bridge over the Mississippi River.

Michigan received $196 million for track rehabilitation and positive train control implementation along the Chicago – Detroit corridor between Kalamazoo and Dearborn, which will allow trains to travel at 110 mph for 235 miles.  Michigan also received $2.8 million for preliminary engineering and environmental work on a new high-speed rail station in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder welcomed the news, stating that an “investment of this magnitude can spur economic development in our communities with rail stations, and provide access to a 21st century rail system that will help Michigan citizens compete in a global economy.”

In addition to the funds for track work, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and Missouri received $268 million for the purchase of 48 passenger rail cars and seven locomotives for eight separate intercity rail corridors.  The new bi-level cars replace aging and obsolete Amtrak equipment and can travel at speeds up to 125 mph.

All told, yesterday Midwestern states received approximately $657 million of the $2 billion in federal funds redistributed from the canceled Florida high-speed rail project.

"This is a big deal," said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. "America's ready for high-speed rail. Nothing can stand in the way of it. We're going to create a huge economic corridor between Chicago and Detroit and beyond."

The federally-designated Chicago Hub Network envisions mostly incremental upgrades to increase speeds of existing passenger rail service on a variety of rail lines radiating from Chicago, including service to St. Louis, Detroit, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Des Moines, Cleveland, and Minneapolis.  While newly installed governors in Wisconsin and Ohio have rejected federal funds over concerns about operating subsidies and cost overruns, states like Illinois and Michigan have welcomed the passenger rail funding.  Total federal funds now awarded to Midwestern states for high-speed and intercity passenger rail include nearly $1.5 billion for Illinois, $400 million for Michigan, $230 million for Iowa, and $71 million for Indiana.

Kevin M. Sheys also contributed to this post.
 

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Today U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced an additional $2 billion in High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Program funding, bringing the total awards for the program to $10.1 billion.

The $2 billion awarded today by the Department of Transportation was largely redistributed from initial awards to Florida, whose governor canceled the state’s high-speed rail project due to concerns about cost overruns and operating subsidies.  DOT distributed today’s funds to 22 projects in 15 states, but three big winners together received over $1.8 billion or about 90% of the additional money.

Secretary LaHood focused on the job-creating benefits of these grants, stating that “the investments we’re making today will help states across the country create jobs, spur economic development and boost manufacturing in their communities.”

On the theory that good news on high speed and intercity rail should be savored, we will roll out our view of the big winners on three successive days, in reverse order.

The third biggest winner in this latest round of funding is California.

The California High Speed Rail Authority (“CHSRA”) today received $300 million to help extend by an additional 20 miles construction of an initial 113-mile Central Valley segment (from Bakersfield to Fresno) of its proposed statewide system.  The CHSRA has already received almost $3 billion in federal funds for final design and construction of the Central Valley segment.  The additional funds will allow CHSRA to extend the initial construction segment from Fresno north to a wye junction, where one future track will be constructed to San Jose and another future track will be constructed to Merced.

Curt Pringle, chairman of CHSRA, said today: “It is a testament to the strength of California’s project that we have won 40 percent of every federal dollar awarded for the development of high-speed rail. In the past 15 months we have won the lion’s share of federal dollars, unlocked state bond funds and began engaging the private sector to secure their future participation, so that we can begin construction and begin creating thousands of quality jobs next year.”

The proposed California high-speed rail system will eventually traverse up to 800 miles and is currently estimated to cost about $45 billion.

Peter W. Denton also contributed to this post.

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Last week, the North Texas Tollway Authority scored a touchdown by closing on $1 billion of bonds and notes to finance an 11.5 mile extension of the President George Bush turnpike in the Dallas Metroplex, which provides convenient access to the new Dallas Cowboys football stadium.  A major factor in the success of the transaction is the participation of the Texas Department of Transportation in the financial structure.  The project was originally to be procured as a P3 under TxDOT's CDA Program, but state legislation gave NTTA an option to develop and operate the project, for which NTTA agreed to pay TxDOT $458M as an "upfront payment."  However, it became clear to the parties that a standalone revenue bond financing would not raise enough proceeds to build the project and pay the "upfront payment."

Following months of negotiation, NTTA and TxDOT entered into a "toll equity" loan agreement,
which under Texas law allows TxDOT to advance state funds to cover the costs of design, construction, operation, maintenance, and certain other eligible project costs.  The NTTA has pledged those advances to cover shortfalls in debt service and budgeted operation and maintenance costs for the life of the project if revenues are insufficient to cover those costs.  TxDOT's "backstop" was a major factor in the rating agencies assigning long term ratings in the "AA" category - a first for a "greenfield" toll road project in the United States.

Another major piece of the capital structure is a $420M subordinated TIFIA loan commitment that will be used to "take out" the short term taxable notes.  Overlaying the TxDOT commitment with the senior bond financing and the TIFIA loan took some major play-calling in the huddle, but produced the lowest cost of debt.

The parties won't have long to savor this victory - planning for the addition of a companion project, the Southwest Parkway/Chisholm trail, is underway.

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