Free Republic

A study of the public-private partnership project delivery method has some cautionary advice for governments and contractors considering them. Entitled "Highway Robbery: Public Private Partnerships and Nova Scotia Highways" by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, the study urges jurisdictions to stop using the model to build highways. The report concludes that governments should instead employ traditional public procurement, based on its findings that contracting out services through a P3 is more expensive than public procurement, has the potential to compromise highway safety, needlessly duplicates government services and lacks mechanisms for public accountability. “Public infrastructure and services should remain fully...

Gwinnett County is committing $5 million to help find ways to relieve traffic congestion on Interstate 85. County commissioners approved a memorandum of understanding with the Georgia Department of Transportation to conduct an I-85 Corridor Study Tuesday. The money that will be spent on work related to the study and will be spread across four years; state transportation officials have agreed to match the county’s contribution. That means Georgia and Gwinnett County officials will spend a total of $10 million over nearly half of the next decade studying and beginning to do some work on I-85. “We’re looking at potential...

COBB COUNTY, Ga. - The largest road construction project in state history is nearing completion, and relief for commuters is almost here. Georgia's Department of Transportation program manager for the project told Channel 2's Steve Gehlbach even after delays for weather and after the I-85 collapse, the new 75 express lanes should open by the end of summer. “It’s the longest land bridge in the state of Georgia," program manager for the project, Stephen Lively said. Northern sections above the 75-575 split and through Marietta are mostly complete, including one 6,000-foot raised section. Lively said the goal is to have...

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Justice, announced Wright Brothers Construction Co. and the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) have agreed to pay a $1.5 million penalty and spend more than $1.3 million to offset environmental damages…Under the settlement, Wright Brothers and GDOT must perform injunctive relief measures, including purchasing 16,920 mitigation credits at an estimated cost of $1.35 million to offset the impacts to waters of the United States that cannot be restored.