Infrastructure

The Florida Rail Enterprise, a division in the state Department of Transportation, holds public information meetings next week on the first phase of the state’s high-speed rail program, from Tampa-to-Orlando, which is estimated to cost $2.6 billion.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission are in disagreement over payments the turnpike makes to PennDOT under Act 44.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Miami-Dade County is completing the sale of $217 million of transit sales-tax revenue bonds today for institutional investors.

Fitch Ratings last week downgraded the Wayne County Airport Authority to A-minus from A, now with a stable outlook.

The Indianapolis Airport Authority’s board last week approved a $200 million fiscal 2011 operational budget and a $50 million capital budget that includes no new borrowing.

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley last week announced the formation of a committee to study establishing express rail service between downtown and O’Hare International Airport that would complement the existing rail line.

Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell Monday proposed implementing a profits tax on oil companies and raising motor vehicle fees to generate more than $1 billion per year to help finance road, bridge, and mass transit needs throughout the state.

As members of Congress and the White House struggle to find a suitable replacement for, or addition to, the current gas tax that provides funding for transportation infrastructure, at least one lawmaker is floating the idea of a sales tax on motor fuels.

A poll this week of 504 Pennsylvania residents shows that 95% of participants believe that the quality of the state's transportation is extremely, very, or somewhat important to the state's economy. Overall, 69% of those polled said that the state should increase its spending on roads, bridges, and highways, Republican pollster Frank Luntz said during a press conference with Gov. Edward Rendell Thursday on the survey.

A group of Washington and Oregon leaders signed off this month on important parameters for one of the Northwest's biggest planned public works projects — a replacement for the Interstate 5 crossing of the Columbia River.