Transportation industry

The Arkansas Blue Ribbon Committee on Highway Finance said last week it would issue its first series of recommendations on how to finance city, county, and local roadwork in early 2010. Members said they will offer several options for consideration by the public.

Connecticut will round out the year with a new public-private partnership for highway service plazas. In December, a consortium will take over operations of 23 service plazas and sink in millions of dollars to upgrade the facilities.

Fitch Ratings last week stripped the Chesterfield Valley Transportation Development District’s 2006 sales tax bonds of their investment-grade rating as the issuer is expected to tap debt service reserves to fully cover its April payment.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is watching for an opportunity to refinance nearly $600 million of floating-rate debt, including variable-rate bonds now owned by banks.

WASHINGTON — As infrastructure increasingly plays a key role in investment decisions nationwide, Minneapolis-based Piper Jaffray & Co. has expanded its transportation banking team and added to its Northeast staff.

CHICAGO — The board of the Regional Transportation Authority of Illinois late last week approved the issuance of up to $166 million of bonds to free up federal capital funds to help trim a Chicago Transit Authority budget deficit and stave off a fare increase.

CHICAGO — The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority tomorrow enters the market with its second Build America Bond sale of the year — a $280 million revenue bond issue that marks the final borrowing needed for the agency’s five-year-old $6 billion rebuilding and expansion of the Chicago-area toll highway system.

With the Thanksgiving holiday on the menu, issuers, underwriters, and bankers have very few deals scheduled to take place during the shortened trading week.

Bond offering documents for the controversial Atlantic Yards development in Brooklyn will go to the issuer’s board for approval tomorrow. If approved, the bonds may be sold before the end of the year and the proceeds put into escrow while ongoing legal challenges continue in the courts.

The New York State Thruway Authority last week passed a $1.2 billion 2010 operating budget with no plans to issue general revenue bonds in 2010, the third year in row it will not sell long-term debt on its own credit.

Massachusetts officials selected four investment firms to work on refinancing $800 million of fixed-rate Massachusetts Turnpike Authority debt into variable-rate mode.

WASHINGTON — Senate transportation leaders are in a standoff with their House counterparts over a six-month extension of the current transportation law, as states are experiencing a 30% reduction in their federal highway and bridge funding.

CHICAGO — The Chicago City Council yesterday approved up to $2.85 billion of general obligation and airport bonds slated for sale in early 2010 and signed off on a settlement with a neighboring suburb that ends its litigation against the $8 billion expansion of O’Hare International Airport.

New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority proposed a balanced operating budget for 2010 yesterday but set aside additional reserves in case its assumptions prove overly optimistic.

SAN FRANCISCO — Oakland, California’s eighth-most populous city, may have to sell its convention center or securitize its parking revenues to close a projected $44.3 million general fund deficit over the next two years.

WASHINGTON — The Montgomery County Council in Maryland Tuesday unanimously voted against proposed toll rate hikes for the InterCounty Connector, the $2.4 billion toll road currently under construction, and also cut $30 million from the county’s fiscal 2010 budget.

The Atlanta City Council on Monday unanimously approved a new lease with Delta Air Lines at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers are pushing for a second economic stimulus bill, and transportation advocates hope it will contain funding for infrastructure without further delaying a multi-year surface transportation reauthorization bill.

Chicago and Bensenville on Monday announced a $16 million settlement that ends opposition to the city’s $8 billion expansion of O’Hare International Airport.

New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority is looking to boost its bond issuance for fiscal 2009 by $200 million, with its next sale set for early to mid-December.