Transportation industry

The New Jersey Turnpike Authority approved up to $2.53 billion of new-money and refunding bonds Tuesday to help finance capital projects and generate potential debt-service savings.

A civil engineering group gave Indiana’s infrastructure a grade of D-plus in a report card, warning it needs billions of dollars in improvements. The state’s grade was slightly higher than the nationwide average of D.

The Cook County Board of Commissioners’ earlier this month gave their preliminary approval to a plan to use $90 million in federal recovery zone facility bonds to help support Navistar International Corp.’s expansion plans.

An Illinois appellate court has upheld a DuPage County court ruling allowing Chicago to acquire St. Johannes Cemetery, paving the way for a new runway at O’Hare International Airport as part of an ongoing $8 billion expansion project that is being partly financed with bonds.

DALLAS — With billions of dollars worth of bond-financed projects underway or on the boards, the nation’s airports began adjusting to another competitive shift Monday as Southwest Airlines announced its $1.4 billion stock swap for low-cost competitor AirTran Airways.

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s finance committee approved a pool of banks Monday that could replace liquidity facilities on $4.6 billion of variable-rate bonds due to expire over the next four years.

SAN FRANCISCO — The Port of Long Beach, Calif., the second-busiest port in the country, could see its rating come under pressure if a local ballot measure passes that would strengthen the hand of the city in its operations.

DALLAS — The Arizona Transportation Board will complete its pricing of $180 million of revenue bonds Tuesday in a deal that will finance construction of highways in Maricopa County, including Phoenix and its suburbs.

WASHINGTON — Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell on Thursday released an audit of the state’s Department of Transportation that showed $1.45 billion could be freed up for projects and that these new funds could possibly accelerate VDOT’s bond issuances, sources said.

Congress last week approved a three-month extension of aviation and airport programs that will allow airports to continue to collect the taxes that they use to pay for capital improvements.

WASHINGTON — Crumbling infrastructure may inhibit an economic recovery, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said Thursday in a report that relies on a newly created index that measures transportation performance and ties it to the economy.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Atlanta plans to bring $1.34 billion of new and refunding airport revenue bonds to market between November and January in two long-planned transactions.

WASHINGTON — Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell is pushing for the creation of a state transportation infrastructure bank that would be funded with revenue from the privatization of state-owned liquor stores and provide an array of financing tools for road construction and other projects.

The Louisville and Southern Indiana Bridges Authority has adopted four strategic objectives to move it closer to developing a finance plan for a $4.1 billion project that would build two new bridges across the Ohio River between Kentucky and Indiana, and reconfigure a major intersection in Louisville known as Spaghetti Junction.

Fitch Ratings upgraded to A from A-minus the Bi-State Development Agency of the Missouri-Illinois Metropolitan District’s 2002 and 2007 debt due to its improved financial condition, helped by the passage of a sale-tax rate hike.

Standard & Poor’s this week raised its rating on debt issued by three local governments under a Michigan credit-enhancement program for local transportation bonds.

Michigan lawmakers working to meet next week’s deadline for a final fiscal 2011 budget said it appears unlikely it will include a controversial proposal to build a new bridge over the nation’s busiest trade route linking Detroit and Windsor, Canada.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn and transportation officials last week announced the start of a $98 million project to upgrade 90 miles of existing railroad track between Alton and Lincoln to prepare the line for high-speed trains.

Chicago Transit Authority president Richard Rodriguez last week said the agency plans to trim $50 million from its next budget by cutting about 70 vacant administration positions and through other measures.

BRADENTON, Fla. — ACA Financial Guaranty Corp. is asking Santa Rosa Bay Bridge Authority bondholders if they are interested in creating a committee to investigate potential resolutions to the northwest Florida issuer’s looming payment default.