Transportation industry

Uncertainty about federal highway funding is causing some states to turn from Garvee bonds to alternative financings, such as toll-backed debt and public-private partnerships, but issuers should be aware of the risks involved, Fitch Ratings warned Wednesday.

Georgia in June plans to sell between $90 million and $100 million of general obligation bonds as part of the financing for a $140 million highway designed to improve truck access at the Port of Savannah.

Top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee showed support for Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden’s transportation tax-credit bond proposal Tuesday, indicating for the first time that the GOP may back the taxable bonds if they don’t add to federal spending.

SAN FRANCISCO — Southern California’s San Joaquin Hills toll road has gotten a green light from bondholders to restructure $2 billion of debt that helps avoid a default.

The Toledo-Lucas Port Authority entered into a closing agreement with the Internal Revenue Service to preserve the tax-exempt status for $3.5 million of 2005 bonds after the IRS found they were taxable.

The United States “effectively shrugs off infrastructure” amid escalating government deficits and cash-strapped taxpayers, according to an annual report released by the Urban Land Institute and Ernst & Young on Monday.

DALLAS — A multibillion-dollar series of projects to reshape how travelers get to and through Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport have all begun construction, with completion expected to take six years.

WASHINGTON — Prospects look dim for U.S. airports to obtain the authority to charge higher passenger facility charges, which would generate more revenue to back bond issues.

Senate Commerce Committee chairman Jay Rockefeller D-W.Va., introduced a bill Wednesday that would create a national infrastructure bank and fund it with $10 billion over two fiscal years.

Two Florida lawmakers who unsuccessfully sued Republican Gov. Rick Scott to prevent him from turning down $2.4 billion of federal funds for high-speed rail blasted the governor Monday when other states and Amtrak won the money.

CHICAGO — Struggling to meet traffic projections for its privately owned airport in Missouri’s Ozark Mountains, Branson Airport LLC has won some breathing room from holders of $113 million of airport bonds under a forbearance agreement that staves off any enforcement actions.

WASHINGTON — U.S. and Virginia lawmakers are ramping up pressure on the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority to reverse an April decision that approved an expensive, underground metro station at the Dulles International Airport as part of the agency’s $6.6 billion Metrorail extension project.

DALLAS — With $15 million in federal grants for a high-speed rail study, Texas officials see the state as well-positioned for developing a Houston-to-Dallas corridor.

DALLAS — A Louisiana bill proposing $3 billion of revenue bonds for state road projects died in a legislative committee Tuesday when its sponsor voluntarily deferred it due to opposition from lawmakers and Gov. Bobby Jindal. The bill would have raised the state’s private-vehicle registration fee to $30 from $10 to support up to $3 billion of bonds for 42 projects in 27 parishes.

Cincinnati’s long-planned proposal to build a streetcar line advanced last week despite opposition from Ohio’s new Republican governor, John Kasich. Mayor Mark Mallory announced last week that the city would begin work on the $95 million, four-mile first segment of the line.

Missouri Department of Transportation director Kevin Keith last week announced a plan to dramatically cut the agency in a bid to redirect funds to road and bridge projects.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is now expected to wait until the Legislature ­approves a fiscal 2012 budget before introducing a draft measure to advance a controversial plan to build a publicly funded bridge over the busy trade route spanning the Detroit River.

Illinois won an additional $454 million in federal high-speed rail funding.

The U.S. Department of Transportation redirected high-speed rail funds originally intended for Florida on Monday, announcing $2 billion of grants to 15 states and Amtrak for 22 projects.

DALLAS — The Texas Department of Transportation would be spared the kind of funding cuts hitting other agencies under a budget bill approved by the state Senate last week.