Georgia is also beginning to develop a PPP program, with four PPP projects in various stages of procurement.56 The first two projects being developed by the Georgia Department of Transportation ("GDOT") as PPPs do not include significant assumption of risk by the private sector in the financing and/or long-term operations and maintenance of the projects. The second two projects being procured by GDOT would be long-term, concession-based PPPs similar to the long-term, concession-based PPPs that are becoming more prevalent in other parts of the United States.
On May 18, 2006, Georgia signed its first PPP agreement with a consortium made up of Bechtel Infrastructure Corporation and Kiewit Southern Co. The agreement is a Developer Services Agreement for the Northwest Corridor (I-75/I-575) Project. The agreement provides the procedural framework for the consortium to examine the development of new, fully electronic, express toll lanes on I-75 and I-575 northwest of Atlanta. The consortium is also analyzing the development of bus rapid transit lanes ("BRT lanes") for the corridor and may also examine truck-only toll lanes ("TOT lanes") on I-75, which trucks would be required to use. When these services are complete, Georgia expects to enter into a Design-Build contract with the consortium. In its press release from May 2006 GDOT indicated that using a Design-Build approach rather than traditional procurement approaches will reduce the time it takes to complete the design and construction of the facility from an anticipated 15 to 20 years to as few as 6 years.57
The second PPP project GDOT is considering is the GA-400 HOT Lanes Project. GDOT received a revised unsolicited proposal for this project from a consortium led by Washington Group International on November 21, 2005, but has not yet voted to approve the proposal. The project involves the design, construction, operation and maintenance of HOT lanes on GA-400 to compliment improvements to I-285 to be undertaken by GDOT. The project will also include increased usage of bus rapid transit. As with the Northwest Corridor Project, the consortium is proposing to accelerate construction with a Design-Build arrangement and is also proposing to operate and maintain the completed toll facility. While the consortium is not proposing to invest private equity or to assume the risks of the financing, the consortium would guarantee the cost and opening date through the Design-Build arrangements.
GDOT is also currently evaluating proposals for what could be its first long-term, concession-based PPP, the I-285 Northwest TOT Lanes. GDOT received an unsolicited proposal to develop this project from a Goldman Sachs-led consortium on May 18, 2006. While the initial proposal was subsequently withdrawn, GDOT received four competing proposals from interested private consortia. The proposals contemplate a PPP for the design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of TOT lanes on I-285 to complement the TOT lanes which may be constructed as part of the Northwest Corridor Project. The TOT lanes on I-285, which is the beltway around Atlanta, would begin immediately south of where the proposed Northwest Corridor TOT lanes would empty into I-285.
On July 19, 2007, GDOT announced its first Notice of Intent to Solicit a PPP. The proposed I-20 Managed Lanes Corridor would add two managed lanes along the I-20 Corridor from east of I-285 to Turner Hill Road, approximately nine miles. The notice also contemplates the maintenance of three general purpose lanes along the corridor. The solicitation followed shortly after the Georgia State Transportation Board decided on May 18, 2007, to temporarily postpone its acceptance of unsolicited proposals beginning June 1, 2007. Each of the three projects described above, and one project which was cancelled, the SR-316 toll road project, were the result of unsolicited proposals. The Transportation Board resolution and the solicitation for the I-20 Corridor signal a shift in Georgia's policy away from unsolicited proposals (the projects already under procurement are not affected by the resolution).
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56 GDOT's PPP website is: http://wwwb.dot.ga.gov/ppi07/html/all/home.htm (last visited July 7, 2008)
57 GDOT signs first-ever Public Private Initiative Developer Services Agreement for Northwest Corridor, Georgia Department of Transportation, Press Release, May 18, 2006.