BY KEITH BENMAN, Times of Northwest Indiana
kbenman@nwitimes.com
The specter of private companies determining whose farm gets ploughed under for an Illiana Expressway is haunting local critics, and adding fuel to the fierce debate over the road.
"Any private entity is concerned with the health of their bottom line, which they should be," said Laura Blaney, a former Porter County councilwoman. "But government should have other concerns."
State officials counter that an Illiana route would be determined by a state-controlled environmental study prior to contracting with any private company for construction.
Blaney lives in an area covered by what has become known as the "Blue Line," a broad Illiana Expressway study area published by the state. It shows the expressway running from Interstate 57 in Illinois to Interstate 94 at Michigan City.
"If indeed that is an important road, then I would be more comfortable with it being under the control of the state," Blaney said.
The Indiana Department of Transportation plans to get the Illiana built by landing a private partner to pay for construction of the route in exchange for the long-term right to collect tolls.
But the route will be determined by the state's environmental study, before any contracts are negotiated with private developers, said Gary Abell, an INDOT spokesman.
"Once the route is selected, that is the route," Abell said.
Those comments contrast with those of Gov. Mitch Daniels before Hammond Rotarians in December, when he said a joint bi-state study of proposed routes could proceed at the same time as the search for a private partner.
Then, he laid out a plan similar to the "go-fast" model from Texas. There, the Cintra-Zachary consortium contracted to do master and financial planning for the Trans-Texas Corridor while the state proceeded with environmental studies.
In June, Cintra-Zachary won the $1.3 billion contract to build and collect tolls on a 40 mile stretch of State Highway 130.
Many Texas citizens believe that relationship will give Cintra-Zachary final say over that portion of SH 130's final route.
State officials there also insist there is a virtual "firewall" between the final route selection process and Cintra-Zachary.
In Indiana and Texas, state officials are also quick to point out that the state will retain title to the land lying under the road, no matter how long the term of the lease.
Independent experts on private toll roads, even backers, say the private developer usually has a role in selecting the final route.
The state will generally pick a corridor of 30 to 40 miles in breadth for the roadway, according to Robert Poole, founder of the Reason Foundation and a leading proponent of private toll roads.
Once a private partner is selected, all manner of details, including the final route, are then nailed down, Poole said.
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