Infrastructure

DALLAS - The New Orleans Aviation Board can begin the process of seeking bids for a long-term lease on Louis Armstrong International Airport following initial federal approval of the proposal to turn the city-owned facility into the first privately operated major passenger airport in the United States.

CHICAGO - As Michigan legislators continue to wrangle over a 2010 budget, a group of environmental and transportation activists this week urged officials and Gov. Jennifer Granholm to drop plans to build a new $1.8 billion border crossing between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario.

SAN FRANCISCO - San Jose, Calif.'s Norman Y. Mineta International Airport added a tax-exempt private-activity series to its commercial paper program last week as it began to take advantage of the alternative minimum tax holiday.

CHICAGO - Public finance banker Carole Brown will step down as chairwoman of the Chicago Transit Authority board after Chicago Mayor Richard Daley names a replacement so she can focus on her work at Siebert, Brandford Shank & Co.

The Tennessee Department of Transportation has identified 111 bridges across the state that will be replaced, repaired, or rehabilitated through a new initiative aimed at reducing the number of structurally deficient bridges in the state.

House Transportation Committee chairman James L. Oberstar plans to bring a three-month extension of the current transportation funding law to the House for a vote today and insisted in an interview Monday that he will not support any further extensions in lieu of a new multi-year bill.

New Jersey officials yesterday broke ground on a new $247 million port facility as the South Jersey Port Corp. prepares to issue $56 million of state-appropriation debt in the next few months to help finance site preparations.

Maintaining New York's double-A range credit rating is a priority, Lieut. Gov. Richard Ravitch said hours after his appointment was ruled legal by the state's highest court yesterday.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Moody’s Investors Service late Monday downgraded the Florida Department of Transportation’s turnpike revenue bond rating to Aa3 from Aa2, citing rapid declines in traffic and revenue along the 460 miles of established toll roads operated by the Turnpike Enterprise system.

CHICAGO - Moody's Investors Service yesterday downgraded the Chicago Transit Authority's $1.9 billion of debt from its 2008 pension-related issue one notch to A1, citing the compounding strains of faltering sales and real estate transaction taxes along with Illinois' liquidity problems.