AASHTO Journal, 19 October 2012
Five state transportation departments and numerous other transportation agencies have applied for more than $27 billion from the federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program to finance 19 projects, the U.S. Department of Transportation reported last week.
TIFIA provides federal assistance through direct loans, loan guarantees, and lines of credit to pay for transportation projects of national and regional significance. That TIFIA credit help gives agencies better access to capital markets, more flexible repayment terms, and sometimes better interest rates available in private capital markets. Each dollar of federal funds can provide up to $10 in TIFIA credit assistance, as well as leverage $30 in transportation infrastructure investment. TIFIA often helps to advance projects that had previously been deferred because of their size, complexity, or funding uncertainty.
State DOT projects account for almost half (9 out of 19) of the applications. Those projects are:
- Route 460, Virginia Department of Transportation (project cost: $1.724 billion)
- I-77 HOT Lanes, North Carolina Department of Transportation (project cost: $545 million)
- SH 288, Texas Department of Transportation (project cost: $272 million)
- SH 183, Texas Department of Transportation (project cost: $876 million)
- Grand Parkway (SH 99), Texas Department of Transportation (project cost: $2.648 billion)
- IH 35E, Texas Department of Transportation (project cost: $1.415 billion)
- Mid-Currituck Bridge, North Carolina Department of Transportation (project cost: $611 million)
- Northwest Corridor, Georgia Department of Transportation (project cost: $960 million)
- I-49 North, Louisiana Department of Transportation (project cost: $631 million)
Other significant projects applying for TIFIA assistance are the New York State Thruway Authority’s Tappan Zee Bridge (at a cost of $5.9 billion) and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority’s Dulles Metrorail (to cost $5.999 billion).
Additional information on each of the 19 projects that applied for TIFIA assistance through Oct. 19 is available at bit.ly/2012TIFIAapps.