Transurban pro in new advisory startup

A onetime executive for Transurban Group who presided over its ill-fated ‘Pocahontas 895’ toll road lease in Virginia has gone into business for himself.

Kevin Longenbach – who prior to joining Transurban in 2007 had been chief operating officer (COO) of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission – has launched KFL Consulting.

Located in Alexandria, Virginia, KFL will offer advice on tolling and toll road privatisation. Logenbach did not respond to an email from Infrastructure Investor.

Serving in a business development role for Transurban, Longenbach managed State Route 895 (SR 895) – also called Pocahontas 895 – a 9-mile road in Richmond, Virginia, that in 2006 became the first ever US asset for the Australia-headquartered private toll road operator.

SR 895 was a greenfield project as well as the inaugural public-private partnership (PPP; P3) for Virginia under its ‘Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995’. Transurban paid $600 million to acquire the 99-year lease for Pocahontas 895 from Fluor Daniel and Morrison Knudsen.

But SR 895 was lossmaking. In the wake of a $138 million write down, Transurban gave up, handing the concession agreement to its creditors – a banking consortium – in June.

Transurban, meanwhile, has closed its New York office, dismissed six senior personnel and retrenched to Virginia – home to its biggest ‘Stateside’ market. Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell last month publicised the move, announcing Transurban had relocated its US home office to Alexandria.

In Virginia, Transurban is concessionaire of the ‘495 Express Lanes’ P3 and the Interstate 95 (I-95) lease. Pierce Coffee, US marketing manager, said publicly traded Transurban is committed to each project. She declined to comment on the shuttering of the New York office.

Longenbach, a lawyer, worked for the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission from 1980 to 2007. Former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell led a failed lease of the turnpike in 2007.