INDIANAPOLIS - Tolls are still a possibility on the Interstate 69 extension but there are still several years to develop an alternative, Gov. Mitch Daniels said Monday.
Now that he has withdrawn his Indiana Commerce Connector toll-road proposal over public opposition, Daniels said traditional road-funding sources, such as gasoline tax revenue, are always options.
Meanwhile, Senate Transportation Chairman Thomas Wyss, R-Fort Wayne, criticized what he called the politics that opponents played with the Commerce Connector bill, which Daniels proposed and Wyss authored. Wyss complained critics overlooked economic-development benefits that it would have brought, and now have made it more difficult to complete the I-69 project.
"Unfortunately, in this state, it's more about politics than it is policy," Wyss said.
But other lawmakers were more optimistic for the I-69 project. Sen. Vaneta Becker, R-Evansville, said she thinks the Senate will allocate funding for the Evansville-to-Crane warfare center portion of I-69 - not included in the earlier budget version the Indiana House passed - so groundbreaking can start on schedule next year.
As for the Crane-to-Indianapolis portion, Becker also thinks a future Legislature will find a way to fund that, and not let the project terminate at Crane. "If the state makes a commitment and we get the road started, they won't build half a road. And that's why it's critical to get those dollars back in the budget for I-69," Becker said.
Senate Bill 1, which Wyss authored, included the governor's plan to have private vendors build and operate two privatized toll roads: the Illiana Expressway in northwest Indiana and the Indiana Commerce Connector around suburban Indianapolis. Proceeds from the latter, an estimated $1 billion to $1.5 billion, would have funded the Crane-to-Indianapolis stretch of the I-69 extension.
The governor and Wyss both advocated the 75-mile connector to boost economic development and create jobs in central Indiana and reduce truck-traffic congestion along Interstate 465 in Indianapolis.
The bill passed in the Republican-controlled Senate but faced an uphill battle in the Democratic-controlled House.
At a series of House field hearings in recent weeks, hundreds of central Indiana residents turned out, many of them vocally against the toll road because of possible loss of homes and farms.
Citing public opposition, Daniels on Saturday withdrew the Commerce Connector proposal and dramatically scaled back the Illiana Expressway.
Daniels said Monday he was not surprised by the opposition. "It's only natural. And especially when there's a lot of uncertainty, folks who would end up many, many miles from an eventual road had no way of knowing whether it would be close to them or not," the governor said. "That's unavoidable under the circumstances, since nobody was close to being able to draw an exact route."
Funding already is available in the Major Moves Construction Fund for the $700 million Evansville-to-Crane portion of I-69 - enough to build for six or seven years - assuming the Legislature makes appropriations. But funding I-69 from Crane to Indianapolis and making I-69 a freeway its entire length were goals of the Commerce Connector proposal.
"We'll work on it," Daniels said when asked about his post-connector plans. Asked whether I-69 still could be a toll road, Daniels said that is a possibility. "It remains an option, but we will be looking for other and maybe better ones."
One option, the governor said, is for the interstate to be funded the traditional way, through gasoline tax revenue.
Two House Democrats reiterated they anticipate funding for the Evansville-to-Crane segment of I-69 will be included in the final budget the Legislature passes next month; and there will be plenty of time to decide funding for the Crane-to-Indianapolis section.
"I don't think we have to do it this year, because we do have sufficient funding in Major Moves to build the first leg, which should last several years," said Rep. Dennis Avery, D-Evansville. "I think there's plenty of opportunity to look at other funding mechanisms to take care of that particular project."
"I think the conversation is going to be fluid. So we'll come up with something, either conventional ways or different ways, to continue funding I-69," said state Rep. Trent Van Haaften, D-Mount Vernon.