Private sector may help pay for roads, INDOT commissioner says

The Indiana Toll Road likely won't be the last stretch of pavement placed on the auction block. With tax dollars in short supply, the state is aggressively pushing public-private partnerships similar to the proposed tollway lease.

"We found we are short $2.8 billion over the next 10 years. We will not be able to build all the highways we need to build," Indiana Department of Transportation Commissioner Tom Sharp said Monday at the Moving Northwest Indiana Forward forum in Merrillville.

"But, yes, you can have your road and pay for it, too. And the mechanism is public-private partnerships."

Eighteen states are considering legislation that would draw private firms onto what traditionally is public turf, Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman said.

Indiana officials also want to seek private financing to build an Interstate 69 extension between Evansville and Indianapolis.

And while Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels wants toll hikes to cover a handful of road projects planned for Lake and St. Joseph counties, several other projects still lack a funding source, Sharp said. Private investors could cover those costs.

Overall, INDOT plans to grow its road construction budget by 9 percent each year until 2015.

"Our future is in transportation," Sharp said. "If you want economic development, you need a transportation infrastructure."

To achieve that end, Sharp is pushing public-private partnerships. But for now, it appears he has his work cut out for him. Only half of the more than 600 attendees at Monday's conference expressed support for public-private partnerships.

Sharp said bidding on the Indiana Toll Road could change many of those minds.

"I think when we see the number come in, we may get a 'wow' number, and we may see that percentage increase dramatically," Sharp said.

By January, the state should know how much private firms are willing to fork over, Sharp said. In the meantime, the administration is working to win over lawmakers.

Sharp already has taken one delegation of lawmakers to Washington, D.C., for a one-day seminar on public-private partnerships and another trip is in the works. In addition, experts from across the country will visit Indianapolis next month for two more seminars.

Through such partnerships, private firms would study how much a state project could be worth to investors. Those investors then would front the cash for the project, in return receiving either a state debt note or what amounts to stock in the final product, be it a road, bridge or rail line.