Infrastructure

Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka, has appointed himself to the state’s Special Committee on Transportation, which will focus on finding ways to finance Kansas’ next 10-year transportation plan.

Officials in Chandler said the Phoenix suburb may need a bond program within the next five years to keep up with street upkeep expenses that are expected to almost double by 2014.

The Senate last week approved a fiscal 2010 transportation and housing appropriations bill that included more than $1 billion each for rail projects and discretionary grants. Now the Senate and House, which passed its bill in July, must meet to resolve their differences over a national infrastructure bank, high-speed rail, and community development block grants.

DALLAS - Now that the Dallas Cowboys have launched their first season in their new $1.2 billion stadium in Arlington, the city of Irving is preparing to implode the team's old home - Texas Stadium - and use the site to stage a massive freeway reconstruction effort.

The Delaware River Port Authority last week approved the termination of a forward-starting swap with UBS Securities LLC at an estimated cost to the agency of $35 million.

The New York State Thruway Authority last week announced its selection of firms to serve as bond counsel on state-supported debt.

WASHINGTON — The House Transportation Committee is expected to vote next week on a bill to extend the current transportation authorization law before it expires at the end of the month, but still needs to bridge the large gap between its own timeline and the Senate’s before the extension can move forward.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The $1 billion Port of Miami Tunnel project inched forward Tuesday when Miami-Dade County commissioners approved an irrevocable $75 million letter of credit provided by Wachovia Bank NA to be used in helping to fund a portion of the project.

So many state and local governments are in fierce competition for $1.5 billion of discretionary grants from the U.S. Department of Transportation that it may be impossible for most of them to receive funding.

CHICAGO - Michigan could partner with private companies to build or operate its highways and bridges to boost badly needed transportation revenue under a bill being considered by the Legislature.