If JNNURM runs away with (privatising) government to governance, land,
roads, rivers, streams etc etc lets not blame the IFIs we are only copying
the US model aint it?
Vinay
Who is behind the national push to privatize public infrastructure? Who's
Buying Your Commute?
A state-by-state tally of highway privatization projects in the works in the
US.
January 1, 2007
By Leigh Ferrara
Mother Jones
Copyright 2006
FL - Florida was set to choose a company to build North Tampa's East-West
Road Project, a 3.1-mile toll road to link I-75 and I-257, by December 18,
but due to the resignation of the state expressway authority's executive
director, the decision has been postponed. This will be the first privately
financed highway construction project in Florida; it's valued at $150
million. Two companies, Plenary Roads Tampa, a subsidiary of a consortium
from Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, and the Spanish firm Obrascon
Huarte Lain SA., bid on the construction last month. Australian toll-road
operator MIG was initially interested in the project but was rejected due to
a conflict of interest by one of its proposed subcontractors.
OR - In May 2006, the Oregon Department of Transportation entered into an
agreement with the Oregon Transportation Improvement Group, a consortium
made up of MIG, the engineering firm Hatch Mott MacDonald, and several other
small investors. The group's purpose is to review the feasibility of funding
three new highway construction projects through public-private partnerships.
On December 12, MIG released a report on one of the projects, the
Newberg-Dundee Bypass, a four-lane, 11-mile expressway, claiming that
privately managed tolls were the best way to fund its construction, with MIG
fronting $379 million and the state $150 million for initial costs. MIG
would then manage and operate the road for 50 years.
CO - Super Slab, the 210-mile-long, 3-mile-wide privately funded toll road
and rail corridor that Denver developer Ray Wells has been trying to get off
the ground since the 1980s, would connect Fort Collins to areas south of
Pueblo. Farmers and other residents whose properties stand to be divided by
the road are adamantly opposed and have vowed not to sell their land;
Halliburton subsidiary KBR is now working with Wells on the eminent domain
issues. Last August, Wells renamed his project the Prairie Falcon
Expressway.
IL - A state-commissioned valuation study released by Credit Suisse in
August suggested that the Illinois Tollway, a 274-mile system, could yield
the state upward of $24 billion for a 75-year lease. There are rumors that
MIG is interested in the deal, and legislators will likely debate
privatization of the road in 2007. Governor Rod Blagojevich has promised to
veto any such bill that comes his way. Most agree that the toll road is too
lucrative for the state to sell.
IN - Governor Mitch Daniels this month announced that Illinois and Indiana
will partner to build the Illiana Expressway, a new freeway from Illinois'
I-57 into Indiana, with private funding. Daniels was behind last year's
biggest road privatization deal, the takeover of the 157-mile Indiana Toll
Road by a consortium made up of MIG and the Spanish road operator Cintra
that agreed to pay $3.8 billion for a 75-year lease. Goldman Sachs was
Indiana's financial adviser on the deal.
Daniels has also announced his intent to pursue the controversial extension
of I-69 as part of a proposed NAFTA highway to Mexico. Indiana's part of the
project would involve a privately funded, 75-mile bypass through five
counties in the southern part of the state.
MO - The Missouri Legislature passed legislation in May that allows the
state to consider unsolicited proposals for public-private partnerships. The
decision was sparked by the proposal for an eight-lane, $910 million
Mississippi River bridge connecting Missouri and Illinois, just north of St.
Louis. A report by the St. Louis Regional Business Council, released in
January 2006, recommended a privatization strategy for this venture. Goldman
Sachs is working with the council to assess the project. The governor of
Illinois has proposed an alternative, a four-lane bridge that would only
cost $410 million; so far, the states haven't been able to agree on a plan.
NV - This past May, Boulder City ordered a study to assess the feasibility
of installing tolls on a portion of US 93 that would bypass the community.
The project cost is estimated at $400 million and is being pushed by city
officials, but Nevada does not have laws on the books that allow for
privatization deals.
NJ - A report commissioned in September 2006 by Governor Jon Corzine has
concluded that the New Jersey Turnpike, the Atlantic City Expressway, and
the Garden State Parkway are lucrative assets that could be privatized. The
state has taken no action so far.
NY - New York law prohibits public-private partnerships, so privatizing the
Long Island Expressway and the Tappan Zee Bridge could be an uphill battle,
but this has not stopped Governor George Pataki from urging the Legislature
to consider privatizing these and other state assets. Australia's MIG has
already expressed interest in the Tappan Zee, proposing to build and run a
replacement bridge.
OH - A proposal to lease the Ohio Turnpike for as much as $6 billion for 99
years, championed by former Republican gubernatorial candidate (and former
Ohio secretary of state) Ken Blackwell, may be dead in the water in the wake
of Blackwell's defeat this past November.
TX - Two companies, Zachry American Infrastructure and ACS Infrastructure
Development, submitted paperwork to the state in October expressing interest
in building an extension of the Trans-Texas Corridor from Shreveport,
Louisiana, and Texarkana, Texas, through Houston and into Mexico. Bluebonnet
Infrastructure Investors, whose equity partner is Spanish road operator
Cintra, is also interested; the Texas Department of Transportation is
scheduled to ask for detailed proposals in early 2007. Cintra-Zachry has
already been picked to build a 600-mile toll network in several places along
I-35. The master plan for the I-35 section of the Trans-Texas Corridor was
released in September of this year; it maps out a new I-35 connection south
of San Antonio and a loop around the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The
environmental impact is under review. Meanwhile, the Texas Department of
Transportation is negotiating with private companies vying to construct a
toll road from State Highway 121 to US 75, and a series of pay-to-drive fast
lanes along I-635. And finally, a toll road loop in Bexar County has
garnered offers from MIG and Cintra-Zachry.
VA - The Virginia Department of Transportation has an agreement with a
consortium made up of the Australian toll road operator Transurban and the
U.S. construction giant Fluor Corp. for the creation of 56 miles of
"high-occupancy toll" lanes on both I-95 and I-395. The agreement instructs
Fluor-Transurban to do a traffic and revenue study and file a detailed plan
for the extra lanes, after which a public-private partnership could use toll
revenue to fund the project, estimated at $913 million.
UT - Goldman Sachs is advising the state on a 40-mile privately funded
highway construction project that will connect Salt Lake City Airport with
Utah County. The firm earlier this year helped convince the Legislature to
pass a measure allowing the state to enter into such agreements.
PA - Governor Ed Rendell is accepting proposals from firms for a potential
lease of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, a 500-mile network of toll roads that
has been valued at between $2 and $30 billion. Proposals are due later this
month.
GA - In May, the Georgia Department of Transportation entered into an
interim agreement with Georgia Transportation Partners, a joint venture
between Bechtel Infrastructure Corp. and Kiewit Southern Co., to expand the
Northwest Corridor with as many as four new lanes in each direction. An
environmental and engineering assessment of the estimated $2.1 billion
project is under way. Private companies have also put in a bid to construct
a new section of GW 400 from Highway 20 to I-85 through a public-private
partnership. And in June 2006, Northwest TOT, a group that includes Goldman
Sachs., McGuireWoods LLP, and the Atlanta engineering firm Post, Buckley,
Schuh & Jernigan Inc. made an unsolicited proposal to the Georgia Department
of Transportation to add truck-only toll lanes to I-285, which ties into the
Northwest Corridor project. Four other companies have submitted proposals
for such a project, and the state is evaluating each. On December 14,
Goldman Sachs withdrew its offer. The firm will instead vie to advise the
state on this decision and its future public-private partnership offers.
AK - The Knik Arm Bridge project from Anchorage to Point Mackenzie has been
excoriated as one of the "bridges to nowhere" that regularly attract
congressional earmarks. But even if Washington doesn't pitch in, the Knik
Arm Bridge and Toll Authority says it will look to private funding for the
bridge, estimated at up to $2 billion. An environmental impact report
reveals that the project could be more expensive than expected, and that it
would also endanger wildlife.
Past Projects:
MI - In January 2001, MIG's North American Infrastructure Group bought out
Detroit & Canada Tunnel Corp.'s (DCTC) shares of the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel
for $53.5 million. MIG now maintains and operates the tunnel and collects
toll revenue.
CA - On May 22, 2003, California Transportation Ventures finalized its
financial agreement with the state of California to build and operate a
four-lane, 9.5-mile toll road expansion of Route 125 south of San Diego, set
to open next year. The company, which is owned by MIG, entered into a
35-year lease agreement for the nearly $800-million project.
AL - On December 30, 2005, MIG purchased the four-lane Foley Beach
Expressway bridge from the Baldwin County Bridge Co. LLC for $95 million.
VA - In March 2005, MIG announced its takeover of the 14-mile Dulles
Greenway for $617.5 million. On June 29, Transurban entered into a $519
million, 99-year agreement to lease the 8.8-mile Pocahontas Parkway.
IL - In 2005, Chicago agreed to lease the 7.8-mile Chicago Skyway to
MIG-Cintra for $1.8 billion. Goldman Sachs advised the city on the 99-year
lease agreement.
TX - On June 29, 2006, Cintra-Zachry signed a $1.3 billion, 50-year lease
agreement to build 40 miles of toll roads from Austin to Seguin. The company
will collect most of the tolls during the time of the lease.
Leigh Ferrara is a Senior Editorial Fellow at Mother Jones.
(c) 2007 The Foundation for National Progress: www.motherjones.com
<http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2007/01/highwaymen_states.html>
roads, rivers, streams etc etc lets not blame the IFIs we are only copying
the US model aint it?
Vinay
Who is behind the national push to privatize public infrastructure? Who's
Buying Your Commute?
A state-by-state tally of highway privatization projects in the works in the
US.
January 1, 2007
By Leigh Ferrara
Mother Jones
Copyright 2006
FL - Florida was set to choose a company to build North Tampa's East-West
Road Project, a 3.1-mile toll road to link I-75 and I-257, by December 18,
but due to the resignation of the state expressway authority's executive
director, the decision has been postponed. This will be the first privately
financed highway construction project in Florida; it's valued at $150
million. Two companies, Plenary Roads Tampa, a subsidiary of a consortium
from Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, and the Spanish firm Obrascon
Huarte Lain SA., bid on the construction last month. Australian toll-road
operator MIG was initially interested in the project but was rejected due to
a conflict of interest by one of its proposed subcontractors.
OR - In May 2006, the Oregon Department of Transportation entered into an
agreement with the Oregon Transportation Improvement Group, a consortium
made up of MIG, the engineering firm Hatch Mott MacDonald, and several other
small investors. The group's purpose is to review the feasibility of funding
three new highway construction projects through public-private partnerships.
On December 12, MIG released a report on one of the projects, the
Newberg-Dundee Bypass, a four-lane, 11-mile expressway, claiming that
privately managed tolls were the best way to fund its construction, with MIG
fronting $379 million and the state $150 million for initial costs. MIG
would then manage and operate the road for 50 years.
CO - Super Slab, the 210-mile-long, 3-mile-wide privately funded toll road
and rail corridor that Denver developer Ray Wells has been trying to get off
the ground since the 1980s, would connect Fort Collins to areas south of
Pueblo. Farmers and other residents whose properties stand to be divided by
the road are adamantly opposed and have vowed not to sell their land;
Halliburton subsidiary KBR is now working with Wells on the eminent domain
issues. Last August, Wells renamed his project the Prairie Falcon
Expressway.
IL - A state-commissioned valuation study released by Credit Suisse in
August suggested that the Illinois Tollway, a 274-mile system, could yield
the state upward of $24 billion for a 75-year lease. There are rumors that
MIG is interested in the deal, and legislators will likely debate
privatization of the road in 2007. Governor Rod Blagojevich has promised to
veto any such bill that comes his way. Most agree that the toll road is too
lucrative for the state to sell.
IN - Governor Mitch Daniels this month announced that Illinois and Indiana
will partner to build the Illiana Expressway, a new freeway from Illinois'
I-57 into Indiana, with private funding. Daniels was behind last year's
biggest road privatization deal, the takeover of the 157-mile Indiana Toll
Road by a consortium made up of MIG and the Spanish road operator Cintra
that agreed to pay $3.8 billion for a 75-year lease. Goldman Sachs was
Indiana's financial adviser on the deal.
Daniels has also announced his intent to pursue the controversial extension
of I-69 as part of a proposed NAFTA highway to Mexico. Indiana's part of the
project would involve a privately funded, 75-mile bypass through five
counties in the southern part of the state.
MO - The Missouri Legislature passed legislation in May that allows the
state to consider unsolicited proposals for public-private partnerships. The
decision was sparked by the proposal for an eight-lane, $910 million
Mississippi River bridge connecting Missouri and Illinois, just north of St.
Louis. A report by the St. Louis Regional Business Council, released in
January 2006, recommended a privatization strategy for this venture. Goldman
Sachs is working with the council to assess the project. The governor of
Illinois has proposed an alternative, a four-lane bridge that would only
cost $410 million; so far, the states haven't been able to agree on a plan.
NV - This past May, Boulder City ordered a study to assess the feasibility
of installing tolls on a portion of US 93 that would bypass the community.
The project cost is estimated at $400 million and is being pushed by city
officials, but Nevada does not have laws on the books that allow for
privatization deals.
NJ - A report commissioned in September 2006 by Governor Jon Corzine has
concluded that the New Jersey Turnpike, the Atlantic City Expressway, and
the Garden State Parkway are lucrative assets that could be privatized. The
state has taken no action so far.
NY - New York law prohibits public-private partnerships, so privatizing the
Long Island Expressway and the Tappan Zee Bridge could be an uphill battle,
but this has not stopped Governor George Pataki from urging the Legislature
to consider privatizing these and other state assets. Australia's MIG has
already expressed interest in the Tappan Zee, proposing to build and run a
replacement bridge.
OH - A proposal to lease the Ohio Turnpike for as much as $6 billion for 99
years, championed by former Republican gubernatorial candidate (and former
Ohio secretary of state) Ken Blackwell, may be dead in the water in the wake
of Blackwell's defeat this past November.
TX - Two companies, Zachry American Infrastructure and ACS Infrastructure
Development, submitted paperwork to the state in October expressing interest
in building an extension of the Trans-Texas Corridor from Shreveport,
Louisiana, and Texarkana, Texas, through Houston and into Mexico. Bluebonnet
Infrastructure Investors, whose equity partner is Spanish road operator
Cintra, is also interested; the Texas Department of Transportation is
scheduled to ask for detailed proposals in early 2007. Cintra-Zachry has
already been picked to build a 600-mile toll network in several places along
I-35. The master plan for the I-35 section of the Trans-Texas Corridor was
released in September of this year; it maps out a new I-35 connection south
of San Antonio and a loop around the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The
environmental impact is under review. Meanwhile, the Texas Department of
Transportation is negotiating with private companies vying to construct a
toll road from State Highway 121 to US 75, and a series of pay-to-drive fast
lanes along I-635. And finally, a toll road loop in Bexar County has
garnered offers from MIG and Cintra-Zachry.
VA - The Virginia Department of Transportation has an agreement with a
consortium made up of the Australian toll road operator Transurban and the
U.S. construction giant Fluor Corp. for the creation of 56 miles of
"high-occupancy toll" lanes on both I-95 and I-395. The agreement instructs
Fluor-Transurban to do a traffic and revenue study and file a detailed plan
for the extra lanes, after which a public-private partnership could use toll
revenue to fund the project, estimated at $913 million.
UT - Goldman Sachs is advising the state on a 40-mile privately funded
highway construction project that will connect Salt Lake City Airport with
Utah County. The firm earlier this year helped convince the Legislature to
pass a measure allowing the state to enter into such agreements.
PA - Governor Ed Rendell is accepting proposals from firms for a potential
lease of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, a 500-mile network of toll roads that
has been valued at between $2 and $30 billion. Proposals are due later this
month.
GA - In May, the Georgia Department of Transportation entered into an
interim agreement with Georgia Transportation Partners, a joint venture
between Bechtel Infrastructure Corp. and Kiewit Southern Co., to expand the
Northwest Corridor with as many as four new lanes in each direction. An
environmental and engineering assessment of the estimated $2.1 billion
project is under way. Private companies have also put in a bid to construct
a new section of GW 400 from Highway 20 to I-85 through a public-private
partnership. And in June 2006, Northwest TOT, a group that includes Goldman
Sachs., McGuireWoods LLP, and the Atlanta engineering firm Post, Buckley,
Schuh & Jernigan Inc. made an unsolicited proposal to the Georgia Department
of Transportation to add truck-only toll lanes to I-285, which ties into the
Northwest Corridor project. Four other companies have submitted proposals
for such a project, and the state is evaluating each. On December 14,
Goldman Sachs withdrew its offer. The firm will instead vie to advise the
state on this decision and its future public-private partnership offers.
AK - The Knik Arm Bridge project from Anchorage to Point Mackenzie has been
excoriated as one of the "bridges to nowhere" that regularly attract
congressional earmarks. But even if Washington doesn't pitch in, the Knik
Arm Bridge and Toll Authority says it will look to private funding for the
bridge, estimated at up to $2 billion. An environmental impact report
reveals that the project could be more expensive than expected, and that it
would also endanger wildlife.
Past Projects:
MI - In January 2001, MIG's North American Infrastructure Group bought out
Detroit & Canada Tunnel Corp.'s (DCTC) shares of the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel
for $53.5 million. MIG now maintains and operates the tunnel and collects
toll revenue.
CA - On May 22, 2003, California Transportation Ventures finalized its
financial agreement with the state of California to build and operate a
four-lane, 9.5-mile toll road expansion of Route 125 south of San Diego, set
to open next year. The company, which is owned by MIG, entered into a
35-year lease agreement for the nearly $800-million project.
AL - On December 30, 2005, MIG purchased the four-lane Foley Beach
Expressway bridge from the Baldwin County Bridge Co. LLC for $95 million.
VA - In March 2005, MIG announced its takeover of the 14-mile Dulles
Greenway for $617.5 million. On June 29, Transurban entered into a $519
million, 99-year agreement to lease the 8.8-mile Pocahontas Parkway.
IL - In 2005, Chicago agreed to lease the 7.8-mile Chicago Skyway to
MIG-Cintra for $1.8 billion. Goldman Sachs advised the city on the 99-year
lease agreement.
TX - On June 29, 2006, Cintra-Zachry signed a $1.3 billion, 50-year lease
agreement to build 40 miles of toll roads from Austin to Seguin. The company
will collect most of the tolls during the time of the lease.
Leigh Ferrara is a Senior Editorial Fellow at Mother Jones.
(c) 2007 The Foundation for National Progress: www.motherjones.com
<http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2007/01/highwaymen_states.html>