Five answer call on Indiana road P3

Five consortia have responded to a request for qualifications (RFQ) to design, build, finance, operate, and maintain a section of Interstate 69 (I-69) in Indiana worth between $350 million and $500 million.

The proposed public-private partnership (PPP, P3) would involve ‘Section 5’ of I-69, a 23-mile stretch of the 57-year-old highway running from Bloomington – a city in southern Indiana – to Martinsville, a city in the neighboring county.

The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) in a statement said ‘Connect Indiana Development Partners,’ ‘I-69 Development Partners,’ ‘Isolux Infrastructure Netherlands,’ ‘Plenary Roads Indiana,’ and ‘WM I-69 Partners’ answered the RFQ, according to a press release.

Macquarie Capital, Meridiam Infrastructure, OHL Conscesiones, the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) and Plenary Group are all members of the consortia. 

For a complete list detailing each team, please click here.

The Indiana Finance Authority (IFA) should determine a bidder shortlist by the end of July or beginning of August, a spokesman with the Department said. The spokesman went on to note an environmental impact statement is scheduled to be published in August.

INDOT will issue a ‘final’ request for proposals in October. Commercial as well as financial close will take place in early 2014. INDOT and the IFA are coordinating procurement.

Indiana has opted to use an availability payment structure (APS) for the design, build, finance, operate and maintain concession, which has a 35-year term.

In an APS, a consortium is compensated via its operation and maintenance of the project, as opposed to a revenue risk concession, in which income is garnered via tolling. Indiana has cited the “success” of using the structure for its ‘East End Crossing’ P3.

“IFA and INDOT plan to replicate the success of the East End Crossing of the Ohio River Bridges Project,” a press statement said. The Ohio River Bridges Project is a $2.6 billion ‘mega-project’ between Indiana and Kentucky.

I-69 in Indiana was not built as a toll road. The ‘Hoosier State,’ however, is home to a major US toll road asset: the 156-mile Indiana East-West Toll Road, or Indiana Toll Road, which was leased in 2006 in a 75-year deal to Cintra and Macquarie Group for $3.8 billion.