Transportation industry

The Texas Department of Transportation is preparing to open a 15-mile section of the Grand Parkway toll road around metropolitan Houston.

While a nearly year-long dispute over the management of Charlotte Douglas International Airport continues former long-time director, Jerry Orr, plans to retire.

Maryland Transportation Authority will generate less than $10 million a year in toll revenue from express lanes on a $1.1 billion highway improvement project.

Phil Wilson, executive director of the Texas Department of Transportation and former aide to Gov. Rick Perry, will become general manager of the Lower Colorado River Authority Feb. 1.

The Virginia Department of Transportation sought bids on more than $2.5 billion of transportation projects — more than the promised $2 billion - this year, Gov. Bob McDonnell said Wednesday.

New York's MTA approved $2.3 billion in new-money bonds and hired PFM Group and Mohanty Gargiulo as financial advisor and swap advisor, respectively.

New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority approved a $13.5 billion budget and four-year plan, but tabled a $25 million proposal for service restoration.

A new plan says most of the $4.39 billion needed to finish the Atlanta BeltLine can be done with bonds, government funds, donations and public-private partnerships.

Moody's Investors Service lowered the outlook on its Baa1 rating for Galveston Wharves to negative, citing reduced cargo and passenger volumes.

U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller wants to know why the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey closed lanes on the George Washington Bridge in September.

Arizona counties are organizing a 2014 effort to restore local highway and road funds lost during the budget crises of the past five years.

Austin will create transportation infrastructure zones around proposed commuter rail stations under a city council agreement.

Kentucky closes on $728 million in bonds and notes Friday, bringing the average cost of financing its Ohio River Bridges Project to 4.4%

The federal Maritime Administration is teaming up with financial experts to help ports develop infrastructure projects that attract private and public capital investments.

A Mississippi Senate highway committee is considering a half-cent sales tax hike to increase revenues for road and bridge maintenance in the state.

A controversial $1.3 billion toll road linking Indiana and Illinois advanced last week when an Indiana planning council approved the plan.

The Foothill-Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency achieved its stated goal of reducing debt payments by $975 million through 2040 with a $2.3 billion refinancing that priced late in the day on Dec. 12.

Six potential private-sector partners responded to Maryland's proposal to fund, build and operate a $2.2 billion light rail commuter line under the state's newly adopted public-private partnership law.

Virginia has 19 private-sector proposals in its quest for innovative solutions to develop and finance capacity additions to a congested interstate highway.

Regional Transportation Authority of Illinois head Joseph Costello will retire from the agency where he has worked for the last two decades first as fiscal chief and then as executive director.