INDIANAPOLIS - The Interstate 69 section from Evansville to Indianapolis won't be built unless legislators allow it to be constructed as a toll road, Indiana Department of Transportation Commissioner Tom Sharp told a group meeting in Indianapolis on Monday.
"The only way the highway can be built is as a toll road," Sharp said at an INDOT-hosted conference.
The meeting was to pitch Gov. Mitch Daniels' transportation plan, dubbed Major Moves, to contractors and consultants in the morning and to legislators in the afternoon.
Daniels' proposal, most of which will require legislative approval, would lease out the Indiana Toll Road to help fund new highway projects. And it would seek out a private company to contract with the state to take over a portion of the costs to build I-69 and then allow the company to run it as a toll road.
The extra funding brought in by leasing the existing toll road and by building I-69 as a private toll road would mean the state would have $10 billion in state and federal funds to maintain current roads and build 200 projects over the next 10 years. That would include beginning construction on I-69 in 2008.
Sharp said the department estimates a contract where a private company builds I-69 and then runs it as a toll road could net the state between $900 million and $1.4 billion. The state then would cover the remainder of the $1.8 billion construction costs.
Tyler Duvall with the U.S. Department of Transportation, said federal officials are excited about alternative funding setups in part because federal gas tax revenue is not keeping up with highway spending demands.
"The federal government is not going to be an obstacle on this," Duvall said.
He said the federal transportation bill passed in August includes additional incentives for alternative funding projects, including allowing private companies to issue $15 billion in tax-exempt bonds for road construction.
Sharp also said Monday that state Rep. Randy Borror, R-Fort Wayne, will sponsor the Major Moves bill in the 2006 session.
But not everyone is excited about Daniels' plan. The Indiana Democratic Party started an online petition last week to oppose leasing the Indiana Toll Road. According to a news release from the party Monday, more than 1,000 people have signed it.
"These results clearly show that Hoosiers are concerned about this process," said party chairman Dan Parker.