CHICAGO -- The Illinois Toll Highway Authority has chosen Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corp. as senior manager and Katten Muchin & Zavis as bond counsel for an anticipated $400 million revenue bond issue to pay for widening a toll road.
Robert Hickman, the authority's executive director, said the two firms were approved at the authority's board meeting last week. He expected other securities firms to be chosen as co-managers of the negotiated deal by mid-June.
The board is expected to vote on the proposed bond issue at its next meeting June 25, Mr. Hickman said. He added that details of the project needed to be worked out before the board votes on the proposal.
The bonds probably would be priced in September if the issue is approved, he said.
The bond proceeds are needed to finance accelerating the schedule for widening the Tri-State Tollway, a major roadway around the Chicago area that links Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. The construction schedule has been shortened by a year to cut down on traffic congestion, Mr. Hickman said.
The bonds would be backed by toll revenues, Mr. Hickman added.
John P.Garrow, the board's chairman, who is working on the bond plan with Mr. Hickman, has said that the plan is "probably something the board will look at quite favorably."
Without the issue, the authority would not have enough money on hand for the two-year project, Mr. Hickman said.
The issue, if approved, would be the first since $400 million of revenue bonds were sold in 1987 for the construction of the North-South Tollway in northeastern Illinois.
The authority has $558 million of outstanding revenue debt.
