The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority’s executive director, Brian McPartlin, announced last week he would step down later this month to take a private-sector job.
McPartlin first joined the agency in 2003 as chief of administration. He was named executive director in 2006 after his predecessor Jack Hartman resigned to work in the private sector.
McPartlin has taken a job as a vice president with McDonough Associates, an engineering-architectural firm that does business with the tollway.
“Due to the hard work of tollway staff and the leadership of [Gov. Rod Blagojevich], the majority of improvements promised in the congestion relief program are either complete or will be within the next year,” McPartlin said in a statement. “I am leaving the tollway at a time when the agency is on solid footing and the existing system of roadways will be restored to serve Northern Illinois for another 50 years.”
Tollway board chairman John Mitola said: “Brian’s leadership was instrumental in keeping congestion-relief program on schedule and on budget, and I am confident we can keep the momentum going.”
The authority maintains and operates 286 miles of interstate tollways in 12 counties in northern Illinois. The agency is issuing new money on an as-needed basis through 2010 to finance the $6.3 billion capital program that includes an overhaul of the system. The program relies on $3.5 billion of issuance. Toll revenues secure the debt.
First announced in 2004, the program grew last year by about $1 billion due to the addition of $750 million of congestion relief projects, increased construction costs, and the extension of final project construction by two years to 2016.
Under the capital program, roads are being rebuilt and extended, toll plazas are being altered to accommodate electronic tolling and relieve congestion, and a new interstate highway is being built. The plan relies on increased revenue collected from the doubling of tolls paid by motorists who don’t use an electronic tolling device known as I-PASS.
The authority has a $500 million new-money sale slated for the fall, but the deal’s exact timing, size, and structure are still under review, given the credit crunch and recent jump in both variable rates and fixed rates amid the market turmoil.
“We are reviewing our options,” said toll finance chief Michael Colsch. The authority will need new cash by the end of the year to continue financing projects.
