- SR400 EXPRESS LANES: The company’s consortium with ACS Infrastructure and Meridiam will improve the link between business districts and residential areas in metropolitan Atlanta
The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) and the State Road and Tollway Authority (SRTA) have awarded the consortium formed by ACCIONA (with a 33.33% stake), ACS Infrastructure (with 33.33%) and Meridiam (with 33.33%) the construction and operation of the SR400 Express Lanes highway in Atlanta (Georgia). This is one of the largest highway projects in the US.
The SR400 is the main north-south connection between Atlanta's major business districts and the residential areas of Fulton and Forsyth counties.
The ACCIONA´s consortium will carry out and manage the design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of the highway expansion for a period of 55 years.
The construction of the infrastructure will be executed by ACCIONA (with 50%) and Dragados (with 50%) and will add two express lanes to the existing infrastructure on a 16-mile (25-kilometer) stretch between North Springs Station and north of McFarland Parkway. In addition, it will deploy another 0.9-mile [1.5-kilometer] express lane in each direction from McGinnis Ferry Road to McFarland Parkway. The works will also include the refurbishment of several bridges along the road, including Pitts Road, Roberts Drive and Kimball Bridge.
The concession uses a dynamic toll system for the express lanes that will help improve traffic flow. It is a pioneering system whereby the amount to be paid by the driver varies according to the volume of traffic on the highway, allowing vehicles to access additional toll lanes and thus reducing traffic jams and polluting emissions.
Construction is scheduled to minimize disruption to existing traffic, using innovative technology based on the use of traffic forecast models combined with radar technology.
The consortium will also carry out reduction and regeneration measures for environmental and social impact, with the latter focusing on initiatives to promote local businesses and entrepreneurship.
STRATEGIC MARKET
The US is a strategic market for ACCIONA, which is expanding its presence in the infrastructure sector, adding to its growing portfolio of renewable energy assets.
ACCIONA entered the country in 2008 with the award of the desalination plant in Tampa Bay (Florida), which supplies water to 2.5 million people. In 2021 it was awarded its first public-private partnership project, the Fargo (North Dakota)-Moorhead (Minnesota) flood diversion canal, which will protect more than 235,000 people from the catastrophic effects of potential flooding from the Red River.
Recently, the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) selected ACCIONA, in a consortium with Plenary Americas and Sacyr, to design, build, finance, operate and maintain for 50 years the bridge over the Calcasieu River, as part of the I-10 interstate highway in Louisiana, which connects the towns of Lake Charles and Westlake over a nine-kilometer stretch. The US$3.1 billion (€2.85 billion) project includes the replacement of the existing bridge, which is more than 70 years old. The works, which will be executed by a consortium formed by ACCIONA (with 50%) and Sacyr (with 50%), will involve the reconstruction of six lanes of the interstate highway, several additional structures, the implementation of a free-flow toll system and the elimination of the existing bridge.
ACCIONA Energía commissioned in May the Red-Tailed Hawk photovoltaic plant located near Houston, in Wharton County (Texas). With a capacity of 458MWp, it is the largest solar complex the company has built to date. It is also building the 325MWp Union Solar photovoltaic plant in Ohio. Red-Tailed Hawk adds to ACCIONA Energía's portfolio of renewable energy projects in North America, where it has a total of 2.7GW installed, reinforcing its position as a key player in the country's energy transition.
In another field, ACCIONA Cultura has recently been selected to carry out projects in two iconic cultural institutions in New York City: the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration and the Hip Hop Museum in the Bronx. In this way, the company, which specializes in the development of museums and exhibitions, consolidates its commitment to the North American market with an interactive, technological and innovative approach.