The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has selected three consortiums to bid on a $1.5 billion replacement of the Goethals Bridge.
The bi-state agency plans to release a request for proposals this summer to design, build, finance, and maintain a new Goethals Bridge, according to Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman.
The short list of approved consortiums include: Florida-based Goethals Bridge Development Group, led by ACS Infrastructure Development Inc.; New York-based Metro Bridge Partners, which includes Meridiam Infrastructure; and NYNJ Link Partnership, also located in New York and led by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets Inc.
Port Authority executive director Christopher Ward in March said replacing the 93-year-old Goethals Bridge with a new span would cost $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion. The bridge connects Staten Island in New York to Elizabeth, N.J.
The authority is looking to use a private-placement financing agreement in which the developer is responsible for funding the project through the design and construction phases. The Port Authority would repay the developer after the new bridge is operating in 2016.
Potential funding sources include private-activity bonds that the Port Authority would issue as a conduit on behalf of the developer, and-or funds from the federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act.
The developer would maintain the new bridge for 30 to 40 years, with the authority making monthly payments for those services.
