Infrastructure

Nevada’s two biggest airports got bad ratings news this week.

DALLAS - A new report from a Louisiana public affairs group warns that significant revenue sources dedicated to road construction and maintenance must be found to avoid long-term deterioration of the existing highway system in the state.

DALLAS - Southwest Airlines, which is leading a $519 million bond-funded redevelopment of its home airport Dallas Love Field, saw its senior unsecured debt rating downgraded two notches to Baa3 by Moody's Investors Service yesterday.

Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., has introduced a bill to restore the federal highway trust fund's ability to accrue interest on its revenues and prevent the federal government from delaying payments to states for transportation projects.

DALLAS - Houston is planning to price nearly $1 billion of debt before the end of the month in a deal that could include Build America Bonds.

WASHINGTON - The Federal Railroad Administration received 278 preliminary applications for $102 billion of high-speed rail grants, even though the stimulus law authorized only $8 billion of federal funds for the projects.

The top Arkansas highway official told a special committee last week that state and local governments should be spending at least $300 million more each year to maintain the network of state, county, and city roads.

The South Jersey Transportation Authority - which operates the Atlantic City Expressway and the Atlantic City International Airport - will sell roughly $265 million of debt beginning this week.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority will hold three public hearings later this summer regarding a proposed toll increase for the Dulles Toll Road. The proposed 25-cent fare hike will raise revenues for the Metrorail extension to Dulles International Airport.

The Massachusetts Port Authority will pay down $20.8 million of debt as the agency prepares to hand over the Tobin Bridge to a new entity, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.