INDIANAPOLIS - A major trucking industry group is endorsing Gov. Mitch Daniels' plan to build Interstate 69 as a toll road after the administration agreed to phase in toll hikes on the existing Indiana Toll Road in northern Indiana.
Daniels proposed a package, dubbed Major Moves, to help fund road construction. As part of it, the administration announced it would hike tolls on the Indiana Toll Road, which have not been increased since 1985. The increases can be done administratively and don't need legislative approval.
Major Moves also would allow the state to contract with a private company to foot part of the bill to build the Evansville to Indianapolis section of Interstate 69 in exchange for a contract to run it as a toll road.
For a truck traveling the entire stretch of the Indiana Toll Road, which runs from Ohio to Illinois in northern Indiana, the tolls are increasing roughly 120 percent. For a semi, the cost would increase from $14.55 to $32.
The jump made some communities along the highway concerned that the higher costs would force trucks onto local roads.
Under Tuesday's change, that hike will be phased in over four years, allowing trucking firms some leeway to write the increased costs into contracts.
The tolls for passenger vehicles traveling the entire Indiana portion of the toll road will increase from $4.65 to $8, roughly 72 percent, and will not be phased in.
"Knowing that the trucking industry ... would be comfortable with this new tolling schedule is very important," Daniels said.
Kenny Cragen, president of the Indiana Motor Truck Association, said that because of the change, his organization's executive committee voted to endorse the entire Major Moves plan.
"We think it's going to be great for Indiana," Cragen said.