Illinois Short-Lists Four Teams For $1.5B Illiana Expressway

The Illinois Dept. of Transportation has short-listed four teams to design, build and operate the state's 35-mile stretch of Illiana Expressway, a planned $1.5-billion, 47-mile corridor set to connect I-65 in Indiana to I-55 in Illinois.

IDOT chose teams headed by equity members Cintra Infraestructuras S.A.; ACS Infrastructure Development Inc. and Fengate Capital Management; Fluor Enterprises Inc. and Plenary Group USA; and Meridiam Infrastructure and Walsh Investors. One team comprising equity members SNC-Lavalin Capital USA Inc., UIF GP and Zachry Resources Inc. and another with equity member Isolux Infrastructure Netherlands were not selected.

The selected groups could respond to an upcoming RFP. The project is set for U.S. approval in March after environmental hearings are completed. DOT officials anticipate that Illiana, set to finish in 2018, would generate, through 2052, $2.4 billion to $3.8 billion from tolls the highway would collect.

Challenge Delays Bond SaleFor Football's Vikings Stadium

A motion filed with the Minnesota Supreme Court by former Minneapolis mayoral candidate Doug Mann and several others is delaying a crucial $468-million bond sale meant to pay for design and construction work—already performed—on the National Football League's $1-billion Vikings Stadium.

The suit could jeopardize hundreds of millions of dollars in city development tied to the stadium and its planned 2016 opening, say project sources. The complaint is based on a city charter requirement for a citywide vote before sales-tax revenues can be used to fund projects, such as the stadium. The Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority, which is administering the stadium project, says none of the petitioners' contentions have merit.

The court received all filings in the case on Jan. 16 and is expected to rule shortly. Mortenson Construction broke ground last month.

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