Infrastructure

New Jersey's Local Finance Board yesterday authorized a portion of Bayonne's mixed-use Peninsula Project New York Harbor for tax increment financing, the first step in gaining state approval for such borrowing.

DALLAS - After years of sweating transportation dollars, state and local governments in Texas are quickly lining up projects that might be eligible for a federal stimulus package proposed by President-elect Barack Obama.

The New Jersey Turnpike Authority yesterday approved $500 million of long- and short-term borrowing to help it address auction-rate debt.

The Michigan Senate last week approved a package of bills paving the way for a $103 million light-rail transit line on one of Detroit’s main thoroughfares.

WASHINGTON - Draft legislation to bail out automakers includes a provision that would require the federal government to guarantee leaseback deals that transit agencies entered into with private investors and that were approved by the Federal Transit Administration before 2006.

The Second District Appellate Court in Elgin last week heard arguments by the Chicago suburb of Bensenville seeking a halt to the demolition of 500 properties to make room for a new runway at O’Hare International Airport. The project is part of a $7.5 billion runway expansion that is being partially financed with bonds.

DALLAS - Lafayette Parish, La., would replace much of its deteriorating rural road network with proceeds from a proposed $26 million general obligation bond sale.

While President-Elect Barack Obama has directed his economic recovery team to develop a plan to invest in infrastructure nationwide, create millions of jobs, modernize schools, and make buildings more energy-efficient, both the details of the plan and the extent to which municipal bonds may play a role are unclear.

WASHINGTON - The problems facing transportation infrastructure financing are so expansive that all options must be considered, including public-private partnerships and a possible alternative to the federal gas tax to fund the highway trust fund, JPMorgan's Jane Garvey said Sunday at a conference here.

DALLAS - A year after tripling its debt load, the North Texas Tollway Authority is trimming 2009 revenue projections by $25 million, or 7%, due to worsening economic conditions, the authority said.