In This Issue

	Tunnel to Replace Viaduct, $400M Left Unfunded
	Gov. wants to Privatize Turnpike Plazas
	SunRail Supporters say Company’s Demise Not a Setback
	Stimulus Spending on ‘Green Infrastructure’ Faces Hurdles
	Top Executives say Current Infrastructure Won’t Support Business Growth
	Idaho Gov. Proposed Gas Tax Hike for New Road Revenue
	Seattle Readies 520 Bridge Recommendations for State
	4 New Hawaii Rail Contracts to Cost $1B

Tunnel to Replace Viaduct, $400M Left Unfunded

SEATTLE - Officials have agreed on a replacement for the quake-damaged Alaskan Way Viaduct – a $4.25 billion four-lane tunnel; how that tunnel will be paid for has not yet been decided. Governor Christine Gregoire has committed $2.8 billion for the viaduct replacement and digging the tunnel, and the Legislature has set aside $2.4 billion, which leaves $400 million left to be funded.

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels said the city’s portion could reach nearly $1 billion, which would cover fixing the waterfront’s sea wall, make street improvements and possibly add a streetcar line.

Under the state and local government’s agreement, the state would pay for drilling the two-mile tunnel under downtown and construct an interchange. The city and county would be responsible for the remaining costs, including sea-wall repairs and improvements to surface streets and transit.

The Legislature, which began its 2009 session Monday, will have to authorize the state funding. Leaders in both the Senate and House said they support tolling the proposed tunnel to cover the $400 million gap. “There has to be tolling. In any megaproject there is going to have to be tolling,” said Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus. “There is no other way to move forward on megaprojects if we don’t.”

Gov. wants to Privatize Turnpike Plazas

Massachusetts officials are considering privatizing the 11 service stations along the state turnpike in an effort to bail out the turnpike authority that is suffocating under $2.2 billion in debt and therefore possibly postpone a proposed toll hike.

“There is potential for a large up-front payment by selling to a bidder interested in gaining access to that lucrative revenue stream,” said Transportation Secretary Jim Aloisi. “The time for studies and theory is past. Let’s test the marketplace and maximize our assets as we move towards the dismantling of the turnpike.”

Aloisi, who just started the job this week, is expected to instruct Massachusetts Turnpike Executive Director Alan LeBovidge to announce a request for proposals for the sale or long-term lease agreement of the turnpike’s rest areas. The rest stops are currently leased to several different gas and food vendors, which bring in about $17 million annually.

The authority’s mounting debt stems from the Big Dig, and one of the agency’s lenders made a move to collect a $450 million loan last week. The governor’s administration still plans to dismantle the authority aside from the potential sale of the plazas. The Pike Board must authorize any long-term lease or sale after reviewing the bids for the lease, which is estimated to bring $300 million on the sales.

SunRail Supporters say Company’s Demise Not a Setback

The commuter train proposed to run 61 miles across Central Florida lost its centerpiece since the Colorado builder of the sleek, eco-friendly commuter rail cars has gone out of business. The company was the only U.S. manufacturer of the self-propelled cars. But officials with the line, recently named SunRail, say the line is still on schedule for a 2011 opening, albeit with traditional locomotives and cars which they say will run as efficiently as the self propelled cars, known as diesel multiple units (DMUs).

“Does it set us back? No,” said Tawny Olore, SunRail project manager for the state department of transportation. She says SunRail will buy new locomotives that will be as efficient as the DMU’s. Critics contend that it may take too long to order new, more-efficient engines and SunRail will have to purchase refurbished locomotives. Olore said if rebuilt engines are purchased, they will meet the same environmental standards as the new ones.

Right now, SunRail will run on up to three DMU two-car sets, all of which are currently on loan to South Florida’s commuter-rail system. The majority of SunRail’s stock will include five locomotives and ten coach and cab cars.

The $1.2 billion project will link DeLand with Poinciana, running on existing CSX tracks. The first 31 miles, from south Volusia to Sand Lake Road in Orange, is supposed to start running in 2011, and the rest to open in 2013.

Stimulus Spending on ‘Green Infrastructure’ Faces Hurdles

WASHINGTON – President-elect Barack Obama’s plans for a “green infrastructure” stimulus package has been called a “down payment” for his presidential priorities. The plan, however, lacks one element of that plan: energy independence, which is key in his economically friendly investment.

The main hurdle increasingly threatening major investments in green infrastructure is the lack of wires and rails to deliver renewable energy to homes in the nation, and also help them reduce gasoline usage, according to alternative-energy advocates involved with the Obama transition team. There is simply not enough time to develop a complete national electric grid, since the blueprints and in most cases, the authority does not exist to build a sprawling system of new power lines or lay miles of high-speed rail.

“Before you spend billions of dollars on new lines, you have to spend millions of dollars on design work,” said Michael Moynihan, the green project director of the liberal think tank NDN, who has worked extensively on green infrastructure and the stimulus. “Nobody had been thinking about this much money (becoming available). So the planning just has not been done.” Obama spokesperson Amy Brundage emphasized the president-elect’s devotion to green infrastructure on Tuesday but did not elaborate on stimulus details.

It will take a while for the pipeline of “green” projects to fill and produce a ready supply for public agencies to advance. Much of the anticipated federal stimulus bill will not be conducive to overwhelming investment in “green” projects; still, creating a pipeline and filling it seems to be in our future. Thoughtful, deliberate planning and strategies are in order to make sure that wise investments achieve their intended objectives. TW

Top Executives say Current Infrastructure Won’t Support Business Growth

NEW YORK – A recent survey of a global network of executives found 77 percent agreed the current level of infrastructure investment is insufficient to help sustain long-term growth in their organizations. Only 14 percent of the global audit, tax and advisory business leaders believe the infrastructure currently available to support their organizations is completely adequate.

Analysts estimate two trillion dollars will be spent on infrastructure globally on an annual basis until 2015. However, executives in every region expressed concern that infrastructure investment would not be adequate. While business leaders in Eastern Europe and Asia Pacific were most focused on the issue, with 89 and 84 percent of business leaders, respectively, expressing concern, the study also reported a high level of concern in mature markets with 74 and 64 percent of executives respectively in the U.S. and Western Europe expressing the same opinion.

Eighty percent of U.S. respondents said infrastructure will be even more important to their businesses in five years. The study, performed by KPMG International, conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit, revealed:

• The availability and quality of infrastructure will directly affect where these executives locate and expand business operations

• The business leaders believe governments should partner with the private sector to finance and administer infrastructure projects

• Roads and power generation are the most urgent infrastructure needs, say the majority of business leaders surveyed globally.

Idaho Gov. Proposed Gas Tax Hike for New Road Revenue

Idaho’s governor has proposed a 10-cent hike in the state’s gasoline tax over the next five years to help pay for roadwork, a plan that would raise the state fuel tax to 35 cents per gallon.

“I know there is never a good time to raise taxes or user fees,” said Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter in a speech Jan. 12. “I can tell you that we are shirking our responsibility and ignoring the facts if we don’t step up to our duty to maintain what taxpayers already have built.”

Otter’s $2.7 billion budget plan for Idaho’s 2010 year includes a 7 percent cut in the budget, but he hopes the gas tax increase will attract more highway dollars from the anticipated federal stimulus package. The gas tax increase would raise more than $174 million a year in new funding for transportation after five years. Additional transportation funding would come from a proposed increase for vehicles registration fees.

Seattle Readies 520 Bridge Recommendations for State

City Council members in Seattle laid out six three-lane recommendations this week to assist the Legislature in choosing a replacement for the Evergreen Point Bridge. The same day the Legislature opened their 2009 session and a tunnel was selected to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct, the council appealed to state lawmakers to find more funding for the state Route 520 bridge. Members also agreed on a resolution seeking a new funding plan that would contain money for transit operations along 520.

Council President Richard Conlin voiced concerns that the more expensive viaduct tunnel would adversely impact state funding possibilities for 520. With original cost estimates at $3.9 billion, new costs have rumored to raise that figure to $6 billion, although some dispute that amount.

“We don’t have a lot of information at this point, but there is a lot of stress in the transportation budget,” Conlin said. “I’m really worried about possible financial impacts (of the viaduct decision) on the 520 bridge.”

The council’s plans did not include a four-lane option, which supporters said was the more eco-friendly and affordable choice, nor did it give a preferred alternative. The city resolution included recommendations for early tolling on 520 and I-90 to pay for the bridge and a final bridge design with transit connectivity to Sound Transit’s planned light rail station at the University of Washington.

4 New Hawaii Rail Contracts to Cost $1B

The city of Honolulu plans to request bids for about $1 billion worth of contracts in 2009 in an impressive plan to break ground on an elevated commuter train in December. The first contract is scheduled to be awarded next month, and requires conducting a risk management feasibility study for the 20-mile, $5.3 billion line, according to a bid solicitation recently released.

The largest transit contract to be put out for bid this year in a $550 million to $600 million agreement to design and build a six-lane, elevated guideway between East Kapolei and Leeward Community College.

Other transit-related contracts to be put out for bid this year are a $250 million rail vehicle and systems contract and a $120 million deal to build a maintenance and storage facility, both of which will be awarded in 2010.

If you’ve driven in Hawaii lately, you know how congestion is impacting everyone who lives there. These improvements, along with other non-federal stimulus projects recently announced by the Governor will go a long way in improving mobility. TW