Infrastructure

Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP has named Irene Walsh as managing director and head of its U.S. infrastructure and project finance advisory practice, while also hiring James Ziglar Jr. as a senior vice president.

CHICAGO - Fitch Ratings this week lowered its rating to A-minus from A on roughly $215 million of outstanding debt issued for the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport as the airport faces impending service cuts by its largest carrier, Delta Air Lines Inc., which is merging its operations with Northwest Airlines Corp.

DALLAS - A Sunset Advisory Commission vote to abolish the Texas Transportation Commission - the largest issuer of state debt in Texas - sets up another legislative showdown over highway funding when lawmakers convene in Austin next month.

Gov. Charlie Crist has been asked by Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez and Miami Mayor Manny Diaz to reconsider the Florida Department of Transportation’s decision not to close the deal on the $1.2 billion Port of Miami Tunnel project.

WASHINGTON - Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Ill., was reported yesterday to be President-elect Barack Obama's pick for Secretary of Transportation, surprising experts in the field who had thought other candidates were more obvious choices for the post.

CHICAGO - The Minnesota Metropolitan Airports Commission will hold a special meeting next week to discuss a tentative agreement that would allow Delta Air Lines Inc. to close its former Northwest Airlines Corp. headquarters in Eagan without triggering the immediate repayment of $245 million of debt.

New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey both passed their 2009 budgets yesterday, but their fiscal circumstances couldn't be more different.

CHICAGO - As unlikely as it may seem, Michigan can provide something of a model for states facing revenue and job losses stemming from a deteriorating U.S. automobile industry, Moody's Investors Service analysts said yesterday after releasing a report on the likely impacts from the fallout.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick will begin searching for a new transportation secretary after Bernard Cohen on Monday resigned from the post.

The Oklahoma Transportation Commission last week approved spending up to $9 million to hire nine engineering consulting firms to ensure that $180 million of road projects would be ready to go out for bids quickly if Congress approves an infrastructure stimulus package in January.