By ANNIE GOELLER, Daily Journal of Johnson County staff writer
Legislation that will be the first step toward approving a beltway through Johnson County is inked and ready for lawmakers to debate.
No one will say if it will be the only step to making the road a reality.
State Sen. Thomas J. Wyss, R-Fort Wayne, is author of the bill, which would allow a toll road to be built through five counties neighboring Indianapolis.
Shortly after the legislation was written, a state representative canceled public meetings about the project, including one that was planned in Franklin.
Wyss and the governor's office don't know if they will schedule any meetings about the beltway.
The bill is a rewrite of part of the Major Moves legislation from 2006, striking out wording about allowing tolls to be collected along the Interstate 69 extension. It is packaged with legislation about the Illiana Expressway, which Gov. Mitch Daniels has said would relieve congestion in northwest Indiana and near Chicago.
State lawmakers are being asked to approve a public-private partnership for the beltway, dubbed Indiana Commerce Connector, and allow tolls to be collected.
In exchange, tolls would not be collected on the new I-69, the bill proposes.
That guarantee will prompt some lawmakers, especially those in southern Indiana, who are opposed to tolls on the new I-69 to approve the beltway around Indianapolis, Wyss said.
The 75-mile beltway Daniels proposed last year would loop from I-69 near Pendleton, head south and west and end at Interstate 70 west of Indianapolis International Airport. State officials have not pinpointed a location for the project, but local officials have estimated its position to be between State Roads 44 and 252 south of Franklin.
A private company would pay the state a set amount to take control of the road and collect the tolls, which would fund construction of the I-69 extension from Evansville to Martinsville.
Wyss didn't know if I-69 would continue into Johnson and Marion counties. Funding from the construction of the toll road would only pay for I-69 up to its connection with the beltway, he said.
State Sen. Brent Waltz, R-Greenwood, has said he believed I-69 would not continue into Johnson County. He thinks the interstate will end at the beltway and continue as State Road 37 until Interstate 465.
Legislators and state officials have said it is too early to release details about the beltway, including narrowing its location, how much land will be needed and what types of businesses will locate along the road.
Studies about the need and impact of the project have not begun. And when the public can support or oppose the project is unknown.
A state representative who was planning public meetings in communities where the toll road would be built canceled her meetings because the legislation was starting in the Senate, instead of the Indiana House of Representatives.
Lawmakers had expected it to be introduced in the House, meaning the House roads and transportation committee, of which State Rep. Terri Austin is chairwoman, would have the first look at the bill.
Austin, D-Anderson, postponed her meetings until the bill is approved in the Senate, said John Schorg, media relations director for the House Democrats.
She could reschedule her meetings if the bill is approved in the Senate, Schorg said.
If the bill is approved, the state could begin studying aspects of the project, such as environmental effect and whether the beltway is feasible. More specific information would be available to the public after those studies are complete, which will take 18 months to two years, state officials have said.
Wyss said the beltway would bring jobs to the area where it connects with state and national interstates, such as Interstate 65 south of Franklin.
He didn't know of any studies that show what types of businesses will locate along the toll road or if the beltway will be used.
He said the proof is in history.
When Interstates 69 and 65 were built, businesses and homes sprouted up next to them. The same will happen with the beltway, he said.
Wyss said he has heard both support and concerns from constituents so far.
Some people are worried about how the beltway would change the community and don't want to give up farmland. Indiana needs a road that relieves traffic around Indianapolis, especially for people who are headed north or south and don't want to pass through the city, he said.
The bill must pass through Wyss' Senate homeland security, transportation and veterans affairs committee before it would go the full Senate for a vote. If the bill passed the Senate, it would be sent to the House for a vote.
Republican legislators have shown support for the idea because of the economic development possibilities, House Minority Leader Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, has said.
The legislation also could receive support from southern Indiana lawmakers, who don't want I-69 to be a toll road, Wyss said.
Wyss said he proposed the bill after working with Daniels.
He also supported Major Moves, which gave the governor authority to lease the northern Indiana toll road for $3.8 billion and pay for road projects throughout the state.