Five projects for TIFIA funding
Along with two California projects – a $1.3bn extension and additional lane for State Route 91 and a $960m replacement for the Gerald Desmond Bridge in Long Beach – the following schemes will now be reviewed:
- Colorado’s US-36 Managed Lanes/Bus Rapid Transit P3
- a $1.5bn package of new toll roads and upgrades to non-toll lanes on Interstate 35W in Tarrant County, Texas
- a $927m programme in northern Virginia to convert and extend High Occupancy Vehicle lanes to High Occupancy Toll lanes
The US Department of Transportation’s Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) programme provides federal credit assistance in the form of direct loans and loan guarantees to surface transportation projects of national and regional significance. It has become a crucial funding tool for P3s in the US since its inception.
In the current round there were 26 applicants for the funding, with requests totalling more than $13bn.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said: "A little TIFIA goes a long way for communities that use these loans to leverage additional funding so they can tackle the big-picture transportation projects this country needs."
The department will now review the loan applications for the five projects.
