MACKINAC ISLAND – Michigan could leverage more of its infrastructure funding by partnering with the private sector in building those projects, a number of speakers told those gathered for the Detroit Regional Chamber Mackinac Policy Conference.
Given the number of such projects already in place around the country, the templates needed for legislation and contracts are already in place, supporters of the idea said.
Having a private contractor construct and maintain facilities can open the state to doing major reconstructions rather than smaller renovations, said James Hatter, innovative finance specialist with the Federal Highway Administration. “What we really need to do is talk about corridors and advancing the whole network of projects,” he said.
Panelists outlined rail and highway projects where public contractors built and maintain the facilities in exchange for either tolls or a guaranteed stream of state funding.
Keith Rosbury, president of corporate ventures for HNTB Corporation in Dallas, Texas, said high occupancy vehicle lanes and the proposed Detroit River International Crossing would be among the candidates for such a project in the Detroit region.
But Jeffrey Daelbroux, co-chair of the infrastructure and project finance team at Dykema Gossett, said the idea can also be used for smaller projects, such as replacement of a heating and air conditioning system at a convention center in Pennsylvania.
The key, Hatter said, is to be sure the enabling legislation is not project-specific, but is broad enough to allow future endeavors.
Rosbury said there needed to be the political will, at all levels of government, to see the project through considering the opposition that can develop to such public/private partnerships.
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