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| Cintra finishes raising 2 billion dollars to finance project in Texas NTE Mobility Partners LLC, a consortium in which Spanish construction firm Cintra has a majority stake, has successfully completed raising 2 billion dollars (1.36 billion euro) to finance the North Tarrant Express Managed Lanes project in Texas. Financial closure has been attained ahead of schedule, and the NTE is the only toll road in the US to complete funding this year. The project has been funded from four sources. Firstly, NTE placed 400 million dollars of PABs (Private Activity Bonds) in the US municipal bond last Friday. The issue met with a very good reception from investors and it was oversubscribed 2.4 times. Additionally, on 23 June, NTE Mobility Partners and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) signed an agreement under which the latter invested close to 573 million dollars in the project. The US Federal Government has also granted a TIFIA credit of 650 million dollars. Additionally, the three partners in NTE MobilityCintra (56.7%), Meridiam (33.3%) and Dallas Police and Fire Pension System (10%) contributed close to 427 million dollars in proportion to their stakes. The contract covers building, maintaining and managing 21.4 kilometers (13.3 miles) of the North Tarrant Express road in the important Dallas-Fort Worth corridor, one of the most congested corridors in the US. The project is divided into two segments measuring 10.3 km (6.4 miles) and 11.1 km (6.9 miles). NTE Mobility Partners will begin construction of the road in 2011 and it is expected to be operational in 2015. The road concession is for 52 years, and the associated operation and maintenance costs over that period will amount to 450 million dollars at present-day prices. The project involves upgrading the existing road (general purpose lanes and frontage roads), which will not be tolled, and building new tolled lanes to provide additional capacity. Tolling will be completely electronic, with no barriers, similar to the system that Cintra already uses on the 407 ETR in Canada. This will allow a larger volume of traffic to flow more easily. Tolls will be set dynamically on the basis of demand; prices will vary throughout the day with the goal of providing users a safe and reliable level of service. Traffic on the road will be monitored in real time so as to keep traffic moving at no less than 50 miles per hour in all segments. NTE Mobility Partners will also develop financial and development plans for the remainder of the corridor, which is 58 km (36 miles) long. Cintra also heads another consortium, which was provisionally awarded the IH-635 Managed Lanes project (LBJ 635), also in Texas, in February 2009. The company is currently working on financial closure of that project. LBJ 635 is 27.2 km (17 miles) long and is located in the Dallas metropolitan area. Investment is expected to amount to 2.7 billion dollars (1.84 billion euro). write your comments about the article :: © 2009 Construction News :: home page |