Infrastructure

Drivers on the Highway 520 floating bridge over Lake Washington could be paying tolls by spring.

With two newly elected Midwestern governors entering office on platforms opposing high-peed passenger train projects in their states, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is telling the federal government that he would be happy to take their money.

DALLAS — New Orleans had hoped to get up to $1 billion from leasing Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport to a private operator. But the recent decision by the city to terminate the privatization effort leaves it reconsidering an earlier proposal that included a possible transfer of the facility to Louisiana.

The New York State Thruway Authority approved a $1.1 billion budget Wednesday with no plans to issue general revenue bonds in 2011 for capital projects. Instead, the agency plans to roll over its $680 million of outstanding bond anticipation notes that are due in mid-2011.

New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority projected that lower returns on pension fund investments would widen out-year budget gaps, officials announced during a budget presentation Wednesday.

Wake County’s tax base is expected to grow by less than 1% in the current fiscal year, hampered by flat sales-tax revenue and continued declines in motor vehicle tax collections, the county’s top commissioner said this week.

WASHINGTON — Airport executives made one more attempt this week to convince Senate tax lawmakers to extend two popular bond-financing provisions beyond the end of this year so that airports can continue to borrow at lower rates.

Pittsburgh City Council President Darlene Harris Tuesday introduced a resolution that would direct additional parking-fee revenue into the city’s pension fund to help boost its funding level and ward off a potential state takeover.

CHICAGO — Indianapolis will lease its parking meters for 50 years to a private company under a controversial plan by Mayor Greg Ballard that was narrowly approved Monday by the city-county council.

The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission recently named engineer Kevin Keith as director of the Missouri Department of Transportation.