Infrastructure

CHICAGO - Indiana lawmakers are considering for the first time dipping into a fund created with proceeds from the lease of the Indiana Toll Road to finance $500 million in local road and highway projects.

Massachusetts motorists will begin paying higher cash tolls in late March, but that increase could be temporary if lawmakers pass legislation to increase the state's gas tax to 42.5 cents per gallon.

ARLINGTON, Va. - Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told state highway officials meeting here yesterday that public-private partnerships should be among the options for funding transportation projects, and that he and Obama administration officials have ruled out an increased gasoline tax to shore up the highway trust fund in the near term.

The Illinois Regional Transportation Authority last week approved a resolution urging state lawmakers to adopt a long-awaited capital program.

WASHINGTON - Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell and public finance expert Felix Rohatyn are calling for the increased use of tax-exempt bonds to help finance infrastructure projects in the near term.

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority financial staff yesterday defended their use of mandatory tender bonds as a way to get access to short-term rates at a time when the issuer cannot access the variable-rate market.

ARLINGTON, Va. - Rep. James L. Oberstar, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said yesterday that he hopes to launch a program to create 30 "mega-projects" to ease congestion in urban areas that will give issuers or borrowers "special ability" to issue tax-credit bonds, tax-exempt bonds, and Garvees.

Work on state highways financed by the recently enacted federal stimulus package will begin soon, said Gary Ridley, director of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation.

DALLAS - The Texas Turnpike Authority is preparing to refund $150 million of 2002 variable-rate bonds insured by formerly triple-A rated Ambac Assurance Corp. with uninsured bonds carrying triple-B-plus ratings.

A task force appointed by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius in 2008 to develop a new transportation funding strategy for Kansas has recommended loosening the rules for issuing highway bonds.