Infrastructure

The recently approved Chicago Infrastructure Trust won't replace long-term debt financing, but will allow the city to avoid the controversial act of privatizing public infrastructure, Mayor Rahm Emanuel told guests at a Washington D.C. think tank on Friday.

The commonwealth awards a $2.6 billion contact after bidding that attracted some of investment banking's biggest names.

The Chicago region could unsnarl its traffic mess and generate $2 billion in economic activity by 2040 by undertaking 11 major road construction projects with a $52 billion price tag paid for with new toll and user fees, according to a report from the California think tank the Reason Foundation.

The Federal Highway Administration put the brakes on North Carolina's second toll road this week and rescinded its approval of the Monroe Connector/Bypass project for which three tranches of bonds have been sold.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency raised $63.8 million last week from the sale of revenue bonds during its first foray ever into the municipal bond market.

California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill Wednesday that authorizes $4.7 billion, partly from the sale of bonds, to start construction of a high-speed intercity passenger rail network.

The Virginia Small Business Financing Authority will price 262.3 million of bonds on behalf of 95 Express Lanes LLC next week, financing which is expected to pair with a $300 million federal loan for one of Virginia's biggest public-private partnerships.

Officials expect to accommodate large cargo ships traveling up the East Coast after the Panama Canal widens.

The importance of passenger facility fees, often used to back bonds, has grown in recent years and is likely to continue playing an expanding role in financing airport capital projects, according to a new Fitch Ratings report.

Two toll-road operators in the Houston area whose systems interlink will issue $379 million as the systems continue to expand in the suburbs of Texas' largest city.