June 17th, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Visionary project will expand
capacity, relieve traffic delays
and improve roadway safety in
nation's fourth most congested
region
DALLAS - June 17, 2010 - LBJ
Infrastructure Group, LLC
(LBJIG) announced today that
financing for the LBJ Express
project has been completed ahead
of schedule to begin
construction and operation of
this anticipated roadway. The
company is expected to
administratively complete the
process over the upcoming days.
This achievement marks a
major milestone in the
long-awaited re-development and
expansion of a major traffic
corridor in the Dallas area - a
project that will help reduce
travel delays, enhance safety,
provide mobility choices and
help reduce the carbon footprint
often associated with idling
traffic. The project is also
expected to create thousands of
new jobs.
Described by state
transportation leaders as the
most comprehensive and complex
project of its type in the
country, the LBJ Express will
feature dramatic improvements to
Interstate 35E and Interstate
635 in Dallas. This innovative
project will feature a
multi-level highway system,
including several miles of
depressed lanes, allowing
drivers the choice of bypassing
congestion in general purpose
lanes for new, high-speed
managed lanes.
"On behalf of the LBJ
Infrastructure Group, we are
proud to work with visionary
state and local leaders to make
this much-anticipated project a
reality," said Nicolas Rubio,
president of Austin, Texas-based
Cintra US, the lead partner in
LBJIG. "With this public-private
approach, the state is able to
leverage limited tax dollars to
create billions of dollars in
congestion-relieving roadway
benefits for local drivers,
while also creating new jobs for
Texans."
LBJ Express is the first
privately-funded road
development project of its kind
in the country to attain
financial close in 2010, a
testament to the strength of the
project and the partnership
behind it, Rubio said. In
addition to Cintra US, the LBJIG
team includes the Dallas Police
and Fire Pension System,
Meridiam Infrastructure and
Texas-based W.W. Webber. The
LBJIG team together already
employs some 1,500 Texans and
will integrate more than 100
additional Dallas-Fort Worth and
Texas companies and their
employees into the project.
Representing an approximate
$2.7 billion investment by the
LBJ Infrastructure Group, LBJ
Express will be financed through
a combination of public and
private funds, including private
equity ($665 million), unwrapped
private activity bonds made
available by the United States
Department of Transportation
($615 million), $496 million
from the Texas Department of
Transportation (TxDOT), and a
USDOT Transportation
Infrastructure Finance and
Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan of
$850 million, offered by the
U.S. Department of
Transportation to encourage
private-sector involvement in
U.S. highway projects. The
financing utilizes unwrapped
private activity bonds, or bonds
without need of credit
enhancement.
Importantly, this partnership
will allow Texas to leverage its
investment some five times to
create a multi-billion dollar
congestion-relieving roadway for
local drivers.
"This public-private
partnership will get traffic
moving and provide drivers with
greater roadway choices, without
waiting for limited taxpayer
resources to become available,"
said Joe Aiello, CEO for
Meridiam Infrastructure North
America. "This project also will
generate much-needed jobs for
all types of businesses and
boost the local economy."
The financial close
represents a significant step in
the redevelopment and expansion
of infrastructure in the
nation's fourth most congested
traffic area. Currently, the
IH-635 corridor claims five of
the 10 most congested hotspots
in North Texas.
The approximately 17-mile LBJ
Express project encompasses
improvements along IH-635 from
Luna Road to Greenville Avenue,
as well as on IH-35E between
Loop 12 and Valwood Parkway.
These long-awaited improvements
will almost double the capacity
of the current road, relieving
traffic congestion for millions
of North Texas commuters along
this major east-west corridor.
The LBJ Express will combine
the same number of general
purpose highway lanes that exist
today with up to 13 miles of six
new express managed toll lanes,
all within the same footprint of
the current LBJ roadway. Drivers
will have the choice to remain
on the free, general purpose
lanes or to bypass congestion on
new high-speed, express lanes
with adjustable toll rates set
in accordance with a methodology
established by the North Central
Texas Council of Governments.
Construction is expected to
begin in early 2011 and be on a
fast track for completion by
2016.
The LBJ Infrastructure Group
was selected by the Texas
Transportation Commission in
February 2009 to design, build,
finance, operate and maintain
the LBJ Express. The duration of
the concession agreement for the
project is 52 years. At the end
of the lease term, the operation
and maintenance responsibility
for the roadway will be returned
to TxDOT. Further, the State of
Texas will receive a roadway of
the highest quality and
condition.
About LBJ
Infrastructure Group
LBJ Infrastructure Group is
led by Cintra US, a world leader
in private-sector development of
transportation infrastructure,
and Meridiam Infrastructure, a
global public-private
partnership investor and
developer of public facilities.
LBJIG also includes the Dallas
Police and Fire Pension System.
The contractor for the project
is Trinity Infrastructure, a
partnership between Ferrovial
Agroman and Texas-based W.W.
Webber. The LBJIG firms together
employ more than 1,500 Texans
and will integrate more than 100
other Texas companies and their
employees into the project.
About Cintra US
Based in Austin, Texas,
Cintra US is the American arm of
Cintra, one of the leading
private-sector transportation
infrastructure companies in the
world with experience spanning
40 years of innovative highway
development on three continents.
Today its portfolio includes
nearly 2,000 miles of managed
highways worldwide, representing
a total global investment in
traffic congestion improvements
of more than $25 billion. Cintra
is part of the Ferrovial Group,
a global powerhouse that owns
and manages major infrastructure
assets, including London's
Heathrow Airport and several
other major airports in the
United Kingdom. Ferrovial is
also the lead private operator
of the London Underground
transportation system.
About Meridiam
Infrastructure
Meridiam is a major investor
in public infrastructure
projects involving
transportation, education and
healthcare, with a commitment to
improving the fabric of the
communities where it invests.
Meridiam is one of the largest
PPP Greenfield
investors/developers in the
market. Its family of 25-year
funds aligns the long-term
interests of the communities and
governments it serves, as well
as the natural asset life and
investor interests. Meridiam
also recently reached financial
close on the Port of Miami
Tunnel Project in Florida and
the University of Montreal
Medical Research Center.
About the Dallas
Police and Fire Pension System
Created by the City of Dallas
in 1916, the Dallas Police and
Fire Pension System (DPFPS)
represents 9,000 members and
their families. The System
provides benefits exclusively
for retired Dallas police
officers and firefighters, and
upon their death, for their
qualified survivors. The
System's funding comes from
member contributions, city
contributions and investment
returns, and is administered by
a 12-member Board of Trustees,
consisting of three active
police officers, three active
firefighters, one police officer
pensioner, one firefighter
pensioner, and four Dallas City
Council members.
About Trinity
Infrastructure LLC
Trinity Infrastructure LLC is
a partnership between
Ferrovial-Agroman and W.W.
Webber LLC, a leading Texas
construction company with more
than 40 years of civil
engineering experience and
expertise in the U.S. market.
The Texas-based Webber
constructs works from roads to
urban airports, including
initial construction,
refurbishment and maintenance.
LBJ Infrastructure
Group LLC
4100 McEwen Road # 110
Dallas, TX 75244
(972) 239-5000 Office
(972) 239-3512 Fax
www.lbjexpress.com
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