Either Cintra or Zachry to build TTC-69
Groups submit proposals to develop TTC-69 project
October 18, 2006
By ANDY ADAMS
The Lufkin Daily News
Copyright 2006
Two private-sector groups have submitted proposals to develop the Trans-Texas Corridor-69, a 600-mile thoroughfare that may wind around Lufkin and Nacogdoches one day.
The bid process is part of the effort to create a public-private partnership that the Texas Department of Transportation says would speed the construction of "one of the state's priority transportation projects."
Trans-Texas Corridor-69, if and when it is built, is expected to connect with Interstate 69, which will stretch from Canada to Mexico. The proposed Texas corridor would start in South Texas and pass Houston, Lufkin and Nacogdoches before hitting Texarkana and/or breaking off into Louisiana.
An ongoing environmental study is expected to narrow TTC-69's proposed route to a four-mile-wide swath — or determine that it shouldn't be built at all. The study began in early 2004. Environmental studies for projects with the scope of TTC-69 typically take five years to complete, according to Ric Williams, chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission.
The two groups that are competing to develop TTC-69, according to TxDOT, are Texas-based Zachry American Infrastructure and ACS Infrastructure Development Inc., and Bluebonnet Infrastructure Investors, led by Cintra.
The proposals detail the groups' experience in developing and financing transportation projects similar to TTC-69, and include conceptual proposals describing how the team would finance, design, construct, operate and maintain the corridor here. Williams, during a visit to Lufkin in April, said TTC-69 would likely be a toll road.
TxDOT's next step, the agency said in its Keep Texas Moving newsletter this week, is to review the proposals, which could be done by next month.
"Teams with experience, qualifications and innovative engineering will be placed on a short list of potential strategic partners for TTC-69," TxDOT stated in the newsletter.
Once the proposals are reviewed, they'll have to be approved by the Texas Transportation Commission. If that happens, TxDOT will request detailed proposals from the short list of potential strategic partners, according to the agency. TxDOT could select a strategic partner by late 2007.
If TTC-69 is environmentally approved, and a strategic partner is in place, the project "would be developed as needed and as private sector resources are available," TxDOT stated in its newsletter.
On the Web: www.keeptexasmoving.com, http://www.txdot.gov/KeepTexasMovingNewsletter/10162006.html#TTC-69
© 2006 The Lufkin Daily News: www.lufkindailynews.com
October 18, 2006
By ANDY ADAMS
The Lufkin Daily News
Copyright 2006
Two private-sector groups have submitted proposals to develop the Trans-Texas Corridor-69, a 600-mile thoroughfare that may wind around Lufkin and Nacogdoches one day.
The bid process is part of the effort to create a public-private partnership that the Texas Department of Transportation says would speed the construction of "one of the state's priority transportation projects."
Trans-Texas Corridor-69, if and when it is built, is expected to connect with Interstate 69, which will stretch from Canada to Mexico. The proposed Texas corridor would start in South Texas and pass Houston, Lufkin and Nacogdoches before hitting Texarkana and/or breaking off into Louisiana.
An ongoing environmental study is expected to narrow TTC-69's proposed route to a four-mile-wide swath — or determine that it shouldn't be built at all. The study began in early 2004. Environmental studies for projects with the scope of TTC-69 typically take five years to complete, according to Ric Williams, chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission.
The two groups that are competing to develop TTC-69, according to TxDOT, are Texas-based Zachry American Infrastructure and ACS Infrastructure Development Inc., and Bluebonnet Infrastructure Investors, led by Cintra.
The proposals detail the groups' experience in developing and financing transportation projects similar to TTC-69, and include conceptual proposals describing how the team would finance, design, construct, operate and maintain the corridor here. Williams, during a visit to Lufkin in April, said TTC-69 would likely be a toll road.
TxDOT's next step, the agency said in its Keep Texas Moving newsletter this week, is to review the proposals, which could be done by next month.
"Teams with experience, qualifications and innovative engineering will be placed on a short list of potential strategic partners for TTC-69," TxDOT stated in the newsletter.
Once the proposals are reviewed, they'll have to be approved by the Texas Transportation Commission. If that happens, TxDOT will request detailed proposals from the short list of potential strategic partners, according to the agency. TxDOT could select a strategic partner by late 2007.
If TTC-69 is environmentally approved, and a strategic partner is in place, the project "would be developed as needed and as private sector resources are available," TxDOT stated in its newsletter.
On the Web: www.keeptexasmoving.com, http://www.txdot.gov/KeepTexasMovingNewsletter/10162006.html#TTC-69
© 2006 The Lufkin Daily News:
posted by Porkus Maximus Tex: at Wednesday, October 18, 2006
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