Efforts Move Forward on Trans-Texas Corridor
State officials appoint committee to seek public input on Trans-Texas
Corridor while looking for private partners to help fund the megaproject.
Trans-Texas Corridor Planning Partner Sought by TxDOT
Continuing its high-priority effort to develop a 650-mi interstate quality highway from South Texas to Northeast Texas, state transportation officials are taking a step further in the search for a private sector partner who can best devise a plan to build this critical facility.
A formal RFP was issued by TxDOT to two private developer teams for detailed plans on how to finance, design, construct, operate and maintain IH-69/Trans-Texas Corridor.
IH-69/TTC was first designated as a high priority corridor 16 years ago but lacked the billions of dollars in funding needed to construct it. Legislation enacted in 2003 allowed the department to pursue the project more vigorously. While recent legislation imposes a broad moratorium on certain financing tools needed for a project of this scale, the bill made exceptions allowing the development to continue.
Support for developing IH-69/TTC also came from Gov. Perry. In December 2005, he announced a plan to partner with the private sector to develop an interstate-quality highway corridor from Northeast Texas, the Gulf Coast and the Rio Grande Valley.
The two private-sector teams competing for IH-69/TTC will be asked to submit detailed proposals on developing and financing the project. The teams, which submitted initial proposals last year, are ZAI ACS TTC-69 and Bluebonnet Infrastructure.
ZAI ACS TTC-69 is led by San Antonio-based Zachry American Infrastructure Inc. and ACS Infrastructure Development Inc. of Coral Gables, Fla., while Bluebonnet Infrastructure is led by Spain-based Cintra.
The teams must submit detailed plans to TxDOT by March 5.
Following an extensive evaluation by TxDOT, a recommendation is expected next spring on which plan provides the best long-term value for the public.
The effort to identify a long-term strategic partner to finance and develop IH-69/TTC is separate from a process to consider environmental issues of the project and determine where transportation improvements are located and what they will include. In 2002, the environmental review was accelerated when Perry proposed a streamlined review process.
Advisory Committees Created for Trans-Texas Corridor Input
Advisory committees are being developed to provide public input on where the Trans-Texas Corridor should be located and what it should look like, TxDOT recently announced. The committees will enhance public involvement during on-going Trans-Texas Corridor environmental studies and provide guidance on how the corridor can be developed to best serve local communities, TxDOT says. The Texas Transportation Commission approved rules establishing the committees which will not only make recommendations regarding overall corridors stretching across the state but also for individual corridor segments.
Committee members are expected to be named at any time. Separate committees will be established for both TTC-35 and IH-69/TTC and will each have up to 24 members which may include property owners, business owners, representatives of local governments, technical experts and other interested citizens.
The proposed TTC-35 would run from Laredo to Oklahoma and include or parallel IH-35. IH-69/TTC is being considered in a 650-mi long study area stretching from far South Texas to extreme Northeast Texas.
Additional committees will consider specific segments. Each committee may have up to 24 members, appointed by local entities or groups within the corridor segment.
TxDOT Examines Cash Flow Issues in Memorandum
TxDOT recently outlined its efforts to address a significant downward trend in the agency’s cash-flow situation in a memorandum on cash-flow effects. The plan includes more than $1.5 billion in reductions beginning FY 2008 in three areas including construction letting, right-of-way acquisition and professional services.
Current projections put the FY 2008 letting volume at $3.1 billion and the FY 2009/2010 letting volumes at $2.9 billion each year.
TxDOT letting estimates do not include the following sources that will contribute to overall transportation funding in upcoming fiscal years: An estimated $1,076,762,117 in executed pass-through toll projects in place; a recent $3.2 billion cash infusion from the North Texas Tollway Authority for the SH 121 project that will almost immediately fund new transportation projects in North Texas; The Harris County Tollroad Authority intentions to move forward on $4.5 billion in planned route expansions; and $5 billion of general obligation bonds recently approved by voters that will be available pending enabling legislation expected to pass in 2009.
The department has published a list of projects by district that will be delayed for at least the balance of FY 2008. Those projects
represent the majority of the remaining mobility projects in FY 2008 letting schedule from February through August. The expected result will be to preserve the available near term fiscal resources for maintenance and rehabilitation of the existing system. The delayed projects total $1 billion.
The total reduction in district allocation for right-of-way acquisition is $138 million. The total reduction in division allocation for right-of-way acquisition is $112 million. The figures represent a $249 million total reduction in right-of-way acquisition for FY 2008.
The total professional services allocations for fiscal year 2008 have been revised as of November to reflect a reduction from $498 million to $238 million. The districts have been advised to review their revised letting schedules for fiscal year 2008 as well as consider the shift of mobility funds to rehabilitation
maintenance work going forward. In addition, they have been asked to review in-house project development and design resources, assess each professional services contract individually with respect to revised letting schedules and in-house resources, develop a spending plan for each individual contract going forward with the assumption that fiscal year’s 2008 and 2010 professional services allocations will be at similar levels, and adjust total contract spending to match the revised budget amount for each office.
TxDOT Selects New Members of Leadership; Expands Administration
The final three members of Executive Director Amadeo Saenz’s leadership team for TxDOT were recently announced. The new assistant executive director for engineering operations is John Barton of Beaumont. The newly formed office of assistant executive director for district operations will be lead by David Casteel of San Antonio. The newly formed office of assistant executive director for innovative project development will be lead by Phil Russell of Austin.
Barton, Casteel and Russell assumed their new roles on Feb. 1. They join Deputy Executive Director Steve Simmons, Chief Financial Officer James Bass, Assistant Executive Director for Support Operations Ed Serna and Government and Public Affairs Director Coby Chase in Saenz’s administration. Barton will oversee and coordinate operations for nine divisions and offices. He will assist in directing long- and short-range planning for the agency including the establishment of overall operating objectives and the technical merits of programs and policies. Casteel will oversee the state’s 25 TxDOT districts. Russell will oversee functions related to the development and operation of turnpike projects to include CDAs, market evaluations, pass-thru finance agreements, Trans-Texas Corridor activities, and long-term transportation planning.
Dallas-Fort Worth HOV Lane Expansion Continues
The regional expansion of HOV lanes in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, which ultimately will add 50 mi to the existing network, continues with one section opening this past December and more set to open later this year.
The latest section to open is a new 14-mi HOV lane on U.S. 75 extending north from the “High Five” interchange to Exchange Parkway in Allen that opened in late 2007. The U.S. 75 HOV lane extends 14 mi northward from the High Five interchange and features a direct connector between the HOV lane on LBJ Freeway and the new Central Expressway HOV lanes, enabling motorists to transfer easily from one to the other. The top level of the “High Five” interchange is dedicated to HOV lane usage only.
Construction began July 31. The first section to open is a new managed HOV lane on IH-30 West (Tom Landry Freeway) – between the Dallas/Tarrant County Line and Loop 12 – that eventually will stretch between Dallas and Fort Worth. A 12-mi extension of the IH-635 (LBJ Freeway) HOV lane will open this year. It will stretch from U.S. 75 (Central Expressway) to IH-30 and essentially double the length of HOV lanes in the LBJ corridor.
Odessa’s Business IH-20 Construction Moves Forward/p>
Business IH-20 – also known as East Highway 80 – in southeast Odessa has been disconnected from John Ben Shepperd Parkway from the main lanes of BI-20.
A joint $24.6-million TxDOT and the city of Odessa, the project will add a new interchange spanning Business 20 and the Union Pacific railroad and connecting north and south segments of JBS Parkway in east Odessa has been under way since July.
The new interchange will connect two existing segments of JBS Parkway and ultimately connect to IH-20 where TxDOT has finished with the other new interchange. The interchange at BI-20 should be finished in early 2009.
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