Recent construction is pictured Monday on the Indiana Toll Road near the I-94 interchange in Lake County. New toll rates will hit two-axle vehicles with E-Z Pass when a state subsidy ends June 1, 2017. Staff photo by Jonathan Miano
Indiana Toll Road rates for drivers of two-axle vehicles paying with electronic transponders will rise dramatically in June, with the expiration of a state subsidy program that's been in place for more than a decade and has kept tolls at mid-1980s levels.
The drivers of so-called Class 2 vehicles will pay the same as cash-payers as of June 1, the Indiana Toll Road Concession Co. announced Monday.
E-Z Pass or compatible transponder owners will pay $10.52 for the full 157-mile length of the Toll Road. That's more than double what they pay now. A trip between the Toll Road's Portage barrier and the Illinois state line will rise to $2.13 on June 1, several times the current rate for transponder users, according to the Toll Road website.
The difference between the discounted and full rates has been made up by the state, through a rebate program in place for just over a decade. The 2006 Indiana Toll Road lease put $3.8 billion lease into state coffers, spent mainly on the state's Major Moves infrastructure program. But some of the proceeds were used to establish the toll subsidy.
The subsidy was originally set to expire in June of 2016, but the Indiana Finance Authority, which owns the Toll Road, extended it several times during the last year. IFA officials said they were maintaining the program until the original account was depleted.
The IFA has paid more than $200 million in subsidies to the toll road concessionaires, it announced earlier this year. The subsidies have benefited more than 80,000 Indiana motorists.
More toll hikes are planned for July 1, the date annual adjustments regularly go into effect. The toll for a full-length trip for two-axle vehicles will increase to $10.75 on that date, according to ITRCC.
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