[Eidolon]

New Tappan Zee Bridge Secures Largest TIFIA Loan Ever
Posted on Dec 20th, 2013

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that the New York State Thruway Authority and the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) have closed on a $1.6 billion low interest loan from USDOT’s Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program to support the New NY Bridge project.

The TIFIA loan is the largest in the history of the program and nearly $700 million more than any other loan made under the program. The New NY Bridge is the largest highway and bridge project in North America, one of the largest construction contracts in New York State history, and one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects the state has undertaken in decades.

The TIFIA program allows for flexibility in how loan proceeds are to be paid. Under the terms of the closing today, the Thruway Authority will not begin to draw on the proceeds until early 2019, and will not make any repayments until five years later. The interest rate on the TIFIA loan is 3.89 percent.

The closing of the TIFIA loan comes one day after the closing on the sale of $1.6 billion in five-year bonds to support the New NY Bridge. The Thruway Authority developed an innovative new credit structure to use the TIFIA loan proceeds to pay off the $1.6 billion in General Revenue Junior Indebtedness Obligations sold yesterday. There was strong demand in the market for the five-year bonds, and the final interest cost is 2.277 percent, much lower than the 3.89 percent interest on the TIFIA loan.

Construction on the New NY Bridge began in October, and test pilings and other pre-construction activities have been underway since earlier this year.

The bridge also has a website.
http://www.newnybridge.com/

Meanwhile, the Donald weighs in too:

Donald Trump: State can't afford Tappan Zee Bridge replacement
Dec. 23, 2013
Written by Jon Campbell

Donald Trump’s public flirtations with a potential gubernatorial campaign continued Monday, with the celebrity real-estate developer repeatedly criticizing one of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration’s biggest undertakings -- replacing the Tappan Zee Bridge.

In a radio interview, Trump said he’s convinced the cost of the massive bridge will balloon to $10 billion, a cost he said the state can’t afford. The current projected price tag for the new bridge is as much as $4.8 billion, which includes both construction and financing costs.

The state Thruway Authority, which owns the bridge, closed on a $1.6 billion loan from the federal government for the bridge replacement project earlier this month. The better option, Trump said, is reinforcing the current span, which connects Westchester and Rockland counties across the Hudson River.

“The bridge is a totally fine structure, but it needs renewal,” Trump told host Fred Dicker on Albany’s WGDJ-AM. “And the renewal can be done for a tiny fraction of the -- in my opinion -- $10 billion bridge that they’re going to build.”

Trump offered no basis for his $10 billion estimate, aside from detailing his expertise in real-estate development.