Transportation industry

Chicago’s $2.5 billion lease of Midway Airport is no longer on track to win federal approval before the change in presidential administrations, as Federal Aviation Administration officials await additional financial information from the private operators that won the lease.

Chicago O’Hare International Airport officials said last week an appellate court ruling that halted the demolition of some suburban properties will negatively affect the cost and timing of an $8 billion expansion project.

Minnesota Metropolitan Airports Commission board members last week asked the agency’s staff to renegotiate some terms of a proposed agreement that would allow Delta Air Lines Inc. to close its local Northwest Airlines Corp. headquarters without triggering repayment of $245 million of debt.

It may be a new year, but problems with derivatives continue to plague the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority after officials spent all of 2008 tackling its costly swap agreements.

Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell warned yesterday that the national infrastructure reinvestment bank is in danger of being tabled as an option for states and localities to finance projects.

DALLAS - Louisiana legislators on Friday approved without changes the $341 million of current-year budget cuts proposed by Gov. Bobby Jindal to deal with declines in state revenue resulting from steep drops in energy prices.

The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department said it hopes to obtain almost $400 million for projects from the proposed federal infrastructure stimulus program.

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is facing a $176 million gap in its $1.7 billion fiscal 2010 budget that will likely force service cuts and the elimination of 891 jobs, but WMATA officials said they will not increase fares.

WASHINGTON - House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chairman Jim Oberstar has proposed a spending package totaling $85 billion to be included in forthcoming stimulus or economic recovery legislation.

WASHINGTON - The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority has received final approval and a promise of $900 million of funds from the U.S. Department of Transportation for its $5.2 billion Dulles Metrorail extension project, which will be financed with $2 billion of bonds beginning in April.

Virginia Gov. Timothy Kaine on Monday appointed deputy secretary of transportation Barbara Reese as deputy policy director for his office.

The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority said Monday that its fiscal crisis has worsened since it took measures to deal with a $60 million budget shortfall in mid-December.

WASHINGTON - The current financial crisis that has caused Treasury rates to plummet has created a boom in demand for a 10-year-old federal program that offers low-interest loans, pegged to Treasury rates, to transportation departments and private investors. But there is no longer enough funding in the TIFIA program to meet the growing demand, according to transportation experts and market participants.

DALLAS - Oklahoma has identified 100 highway projects across the state that could begin construction as early as March if Congress passes a proposed multibillion-dollar transportation infrastructure stimulus package.

DALLAS - With its own future in question, the Texas Department of Transportation is abandoning the Trans-Texas Corridor as a planning concept, executive director Amadeo Saenz said yesterday.

Virgin Galactic last week signed a 20-year lease agreement that calls for the tourist spaceflight provider to establish its headquarters in New Mexico and base its operations at the state-owned Spaceport America.

WASHINGTON - State and local governments could get an infusion of federal funds next year to jump-start many of their shovel-ready transportation projects if Democrats and President-elect Barack Obama are able to enact a promised stimulus package soon after Obama takes office, industry stakeholders said in recent interviews.

DALLAS - The New Orleans Aviation Board will refund all $113.3 million of its outstanding variable-rate debt and pay swap termination fees of up to $16.7 million for five related interest rate swaps with the proceeds from the negotiated sale of $138.8 million of fixed-rate airport revenue bonds next week.

Fitch Ratings has confirmed the rating of AAA/F-1 assigned to Denver International Airport’s $148.5 million of system revenue bonds under a new standby bond purchase agreement with Morgan Stanley Bank.

DALLAS - The El Paso City Council yesterday approved creation of Texas' first transportation reinvestment zone that could attract an estimated $1 billion in state funds for road projects.