A NEW TOLL ROAD COMES ON LINE

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A NEW TOLL ROAD COMES ON LINE

• Stephen D. Hogan
• Executive Director
• Northwest Parkway Public Highway Authority
• March 5, 2004

2
What toll financing attitudes must be different
from those of a traditional highway project?

• Public/Private Partnerships must be viewed as a
  solution to needs, not a last ditch option to
  solve an immediate problem
• Public Owners should not settle for traditional
  scheduling, approval, contracting, and financing
  processes and methods, to build new toll roads
• Public Owners must not be afraid to be proactive,
  instead of reactive
• Public Owners need to identify a clear advocate,
  a clear goal to achieve, and a clear reason to
  move forward now even though others may say it
  is not yet time
• Public Owners must give complete support to those
  who are charged to accomplish the task at hand

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What is the Northwest Parkway?

• 4 lane, limited access, expandable, interstate
  standard, open road toll way
• Connects I-25 and E-470 with U.S. 36 in Central
  Colorado
• Built to allow future mass transit to be
  constructed in the median
• Paralleled by perpetual open space and stringent
  land use control

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What is the Northwest Parkway?

• 9.5 Miles of new toll road
• 2 major interchanges I-25 U.S. 287
• 26 Bridges Structures
• Toll Plaza/Administrative Office Building
• Automated Toll Collection System
• 2 Ramp Plazas

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What is the Northwest Parkway?
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What is the Northwest Parkway?
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Who built the Northwest Parkway?

• Members
• Ex Officio Associate Members
• Built with the further cooperation of the E-470
  Public Highway Authority, the FHWA, the Corp of
  Engineers, and the EPA

City CO - Broomfield
City of Lafayette
Weld County
City of Arvada
Regional Transportation District
Interlocken Metro District
Colorado Dept. of Transportation
Jefferson County
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Where is the Northwest Parkway?
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When was the Northwest Parkway Built?

• 1988 Public Vote Fails to Build the Road
• 1995 Broomfield and Boulder County identify a
  possible future road corridor on maps
• 1998 A non-profit corporation is formed to
  advance the possibility of reviving the road
• 1999 Design/Build Contractor is selected
• 1999 Northwest Parkway Public Highway Authority
  is formed
• June, 2001 Bonds sold to build the Parkway
• November, 2003 Road opens to traffic

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Why was the Northwest Parkway Built?

• To extend the Denver Beltway
• To avoid the cost of building new, or expanding
  existing, local roads
• To ensure that development occurred in specified
  locations
• To provide for a future mass transit service
  corridor

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How did the Northwest Parkway conform to the
different toll financing actions?

• The Design/Build Contractor was selected through
  a 1-1/2 page RFP
• The Design/Build Contractor provided 9M in up
  front costs for environmental work, traffic
  revenue studies, and administrative support and
  was repaid only from a successful financing (
  through a success fee agreement)
• In 1999, the Authority demanded, and received, a
  four year completion schedule from selection to
  open for traffic.
• The price for the Design/Build contract was set
  in 1999, and true change orders on the 190M
  contract totaled less than 2. Both sides knew
  change orders would not be well received when
  presented, and both sides held to that
  philosophy.
• The Authority did not exist in June, 1999. In
  June 2001, it issued over 410M in revenue bonds
  in its own name the bonds were insured, and
  therefore AAA rated.

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How did the Northwest Parkway conform to the
different toll financing actions? (Continue)

• The Authority did not buckle to demands for an
  EIS, and instead conducted 2 EAS, and invented a
  Corridor Environmental Review
• The elected officials on the Board of Directors
  of the Authority determined that the Chairman of
  the Board and the Executive Director of the
  Authority would be the talking heads for the
  project.
• The Board determined that the only publicity
  during construction would be that generated by
  the media itself. As a result, for some
  opponents the Project came in under the radar.
  The Project opened 6 weeks ahead of schedule.
• Every time an opponent said the Project wasnt
  needed, or was ahead of when it was needed, the
  response was, for once, government is planning
  for the future, rather than reacting to the
  past.
• The staffing philosophy of the Authority showed 3
  employees when it was created, 4 employees when
  the contract was signed, 5 employees at the
  ground breaking, and only 3 more added over the
  last three years. All employees are at-will.
• The Board evaluates the Executive Director, and
  the Executive Director runs the organization.

13
What toll financing attitudes must be different
from those of a traditional highway project?

• Public/Private Partnerships must be viewed as a
  solution to needs, not a last ditch option to
  solve an immediate problem
• Public Owners should not settle for traditional
  scheduling, approval, contracting, and financing
  processes and methods to build new toll roads
• Public Owners must not be afraid to be proactive,
  instead of reactive
• Public Owners need to identify a clear advocate,
  a clear goal to achieve, and a clear reason to
  move forward now even though others may say it
  is not yet time
• Public Owners must give complete support to those
  who are charged to accomplish the task at hand

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Who made the project work?

• Dick Fontane - George K. Baum Co. - Underwriter
• David Klinges Jim Taylor - Bear Stearns -
  Underwriter
• Ed Icenogle Erin Smith - Icenogle Norton Smith
  Blieszner General Counsel, Design/Build
  Contract and Right of Way
• Pamela Bailey Campbell Carter Burgess -
  Financial Officer
• Norm Lovejoy Lovejoy Associates Specialized
  Engineering Support
• Bob Sakaguchi and Mark Shotkoski Carter
  Burgess Environmental Studies and Project
  Oversight Engineering
• Terry Geohegan Bader Geohegan Operations
  Support
• Jim Allen UTS United Toll System

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Who made the project work?(Continue)

• Steve Bobrick Right of Way
• Richard Bauman Chief Engineer
• Jill Lamoureux Financial
• Benton Tempas IT
• Lina Kheng Contract Support
• Jamie Dawson Administrative
• Kerri Weaver Marketing
• Michelle Sinaka Administrative
• Gerry Nielsten Bill Ihlo Vollmer Associates
  Traffic Revenue Studies
• Matt Scott PBConsult Land Use Studies
• Rich Linford Washington Group Design/Build
  Contractor
• Jeff Kresl Kiewit Design/Build Contractor
• Steve Medina NPC Design/Build Contractor

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Points to Ponder

• Why bond a decreasing revenue stream, i.e. gas
  tax?
• Why use federal funds for new roads when there is
  no requirement to do so?
• Why build only toll projects which simply
  encourage the double taxation argument, i.e. hot
  lanes?
• Why agree to an EIS, when an EA and other site
  specific environmental review will accomplish the
  same thing?
• Why not encourage public/private financial
  partnerships to help build new roads?
• Why not encourage bonding based on tolls to build
  new roads?
• Why not encourage design/build?
• Why not encourage design/build/operate as a way
  to get the private sector into the toll road
  building business?
• Why not be as creative in 2004 in searching for a
  solution as the new Administration was in 1954,
  when it decided to build the interstate highway
  system?