DoT eyes Texas for high-speed rail

Houston Business Journal

Texas will be part of a federal program to create high-speed passenger train service, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The agency said it plans to begin accepting bids from companies that will finance, design, build, operate and maintain high-speed trains in 11 federally designated corridors, according to Transportation Secretary Mary Peters.

“Americans need new ways of traveling between major cities, and a properly structured intercity passenger rail system can, and must, play a larger role in our nation’s transportation future,” Peters said in New York City. “There is growing interest in intercity passenger rail as an alternative to driving and flying but, for it to really work, it must be viable, efficient and competitive.”

The corridors, as currently designed by the Federal Rail Administration, stretch across the country, but only half — those in the eastern portion of the United States — actually connect with one another.

If initiated, Houston will be part of the 1,022-mile Gulf Coast Corridor, based out of New Orleans, La., connecting the city with Mobile, Ala; Meridian, Miss.; and Birmingham, Ala., according to the Federal Rail Administration.

The rest of Texas has its own corridor, called the South Central High-Speed Corridor, that would link Dallas-Fort Worth; Austin; San Antonio; Texarkana; Oklahoma City; Tulsa, Okla;. and Little Rock, Ark.

First phase of Crestview Station project underway

Austin Business Journal

A groundbreaking ceremony will be held next Tuesday for Midtown Commons, the 73-acre, mixed-use development that will go up adjacent to the Crestview Station commuter rail stop in Central Austin.

High Street Residential, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Trammell Crow Co., is developing the transit-oriented development that will marry retail, residential and office space.

The first phase of the project surrounding the actual transit station will feature 316 apartments, 30,300 square feet of retail and 30,300 square feet of office and should be delivered in February 2009.

Lance Sallis, managing director of Trammell Crow's Austin office, says the company is pleased to begin construction on the long-awaited project at the intersection of Lamar Boulevard and Airport Boulevard.

"This TOD project addresses mobility issues through smart growth and proximity to public transportation while enhancing the economic development of the area," says Sallis.

USAA Real Estate Co. is Trammell Crow's equity partner on the project.

Trammell Crow Co. is a wholly-owned and independently operated division of CB Richard Ellis Inc. (NYSE:CBRE).

Design/build team selected for U.S. Highway 281 toll project

San Antonio Business Journal

The Alamo Regional Mobility Authority Board of Directors on Wednesday selected Cibolo Creek Infrastructure JV to serve as the design/builder for the 281 North Toll Project.

The value of the contract is $330 million and it will be paid for by a combination of public funds from the Texas Mobility Fund, money generated from the sale of toll revenue-backed bonds and financing from the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA), a U.S. Department of Transportation loan program, says the Alamo Regional Mobility Authority's (Alamo RMA) spokesman Leroy Alloway.

However, this amount does not include the cost of acquiring all of the right-of-way needed to proceed with the project, Alloway says.

Once the toll lanes are complete, the money generated from drivers on the lanes will pay off the debt on the project. Drivers will pay 17 cents per mile and will be charged through the use of a toll tag on their vehicles. Drivers will be able to use this same tag on toll roads in Austin, Houston and Dallas because the systems will be interoperable, Alloway says.

People who do not have a toll tag will be charged through a video billing system. Video cameras aligned along the toll route will track a vehicle's license plate number and send the person's toll charge through the mail. Drivers will not have to carry cash or coins to pay their tolls.

Alamo RMA wants to begin construction on two to three new "non-toll" lanes along U.S. Highway 281 from Loop 1604 to Stone Oak Parkway possibly as early as this fall.

The next phase of the project will involve building out new "non-toll" lanes from Stone Oak Parkway to the Comal County line along Highway 281, Alloway says. In all, Cibolo Creek Infrastructure will be building new highway lanes along a 7.9 mile route.

Once the non-toll lanes are complete, the Alamo RMA's contractors will build three new toll lanes in each direction. Cibolo Creek has committed to complete the project in 44 months after construction begins.

Cibolo Creek Infrastructure is owned by joint venture partners Fluor Enterprises Inc. and Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Inc. Atlanta-based Balfour Beatty is an engineering, construction, services and investment business. Fluor Enterprises is an engineering and construction services firm based in Dallas.

The other team members are HDR Engineering Inc., Raba-Kistner Consultants, Guerra DeBerry Coody, Donze Lopez Public Affairs, Vickery & Associates Inc., Bain Medina Bain, AIA Engineers Ltd. and Pinnacle Consulting Management Group Inc.

Alamo RMA officials say this approach is not a concession or a private sector model and the Alamo RMA will retain ownership and operations of the toll project.

"This has been an open and transparent process," Alamo RMA Chairman William Thornton says. "The Alamo RMA has ensured the highest possible value for our community and we will see this needed roadway constructed in the shortest possible time through the use of the design build approach."

The widening and expansion of U.S. Highway 281 using toll lanes will be the first official toll project in Bexar County.