NEWS | SAN DIEGO

San Diego to open first toll road spring 2007

By , The Daily Transcript

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Construction continues on San Diego's first toll road, state Route 125, or the South Bay Expressway, which is set to open in spring 2007.

The project will create 12.5 miles of new highway, connecting state Route 54 near the Sweetwater Reservoir to state Route 905 in Otay Mesa. Between the new highway and the gap and connector that will connect the toll road to the existing freeway network, the project will cost about $773 million.

The expressway is being financed and managed through a partnership between Caltrans and California Transportation Ventures Inc., a company specifically created for the project and a wholly owned subsidiary of Macquarie Infrastructure Co. (NYSE: MIC).

CTV was chosen by the state in 1990 to build the road, under state legislation that allowed Caltrans to choose four companies to build toll roads under private/public partnership. SR-125 and Route 91 in Orange County are the only remaining projects from that legislation, said Greg Hulsizer, CEO of CTV. Construction on the expressway began in 2002.

Funding for the project comes from sources that include a federal loan from the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 1998, right of way donated by developers in the area, private equity capital and SANDAG funding for the gap and connector sections.

CTV will also operate the toll road once it opens, then will give it back to Caltrans after 35 years. Currently, the company has 15 employees, Hulsizer said, but once the tollway opens it will increase its staff to 50 or 60 employees.

Tollbooths will be located at several exits along the 10-mile tolled section of the road. They will feature FasTrak electronic toll-collecting equipment so drivers with FasTrak transponders can have tolls automatically deducted from a prepaid account as they drive through at normal speeds. Toll rates should be announced near the end of summer or beginning of fall, Hulsizer said.

The contractor for the project is Otay River Constructors, a joint venture of Washington Group International Inc. (Nasdaq: WGII), and Fluor Daniel, a subdivision of Fluor Corp. (NYSE: FLR).

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