See you later, Alligator

Earlier this month, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) failed to receive any proposals for the right to lease, maintain, operate and receive toll revenues for the state's Alligator Alley – a 78-mile section of Interstate I-75 in south Florida, connecting the south-western and south-eastern coastal areas of the 'Sunshine State'.

As a result, the public meeting scheduled for 29 May to announce results of the analysis of bids received has been cancelled.

Florida had hoped to find a company or consortium to take over the highway for up to 75 years. The state's primary objective in pursuing the lease was to maximise the asset's value to the state for reinvestment in transportation facilities while maintaining the road's safety standards, service levels and overall quality.

The road was originally constructed during the late 1960s as a two-lane, controlled-access toll road and was known in the original bond documents as Everglades Parkway. From 1986 to 1992, Alligator Alley was widened to four lanes and made a limited-access, tolled, interstate facility (I-75).

Surprising failure

Failure to file bids was surprising in view of the fact that six groups responded to FDOT's request for proposals (RfP) when the state began soliciting bids in June 2008.

The six groups presenting proposals were: Alligator Alley Development Partners, comprising Spanish infrastructure management group Obrascon Huarte Lain (OHL) and US private equity firm Carlyle Group; Atlantia, consisting of Italian toll road operators Atlantia and Autostrade per L'Italia; A2 Transportation Partners, comprising Brisa Auto- Estradas de Portugal, Brazil's Companhia de Concessoes Rodoviarias (CCR) and JP Morgan Chase; Vinci Concessions Development, including French toll road operator Vinci, Confironte USA and Orlando, Florida-based Hubbard Construction; Everglades Parkway Partners, made up of Spain's Cintra Concessiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte and GS Global Infrastructure Partners, the infrastructure investment arm of Goldman Sachs; and GVI-Lehman Alligator Alley Access Partners, comprising Global Via Infrastructuras of Spain and Lehman Brothers Holdings. All six were invited by FDOT to bid.

Australia's Macquarie Bank and Abertis of Spain had also submitted requests for qualification, but dropped out of the running before evaluation.