INDIANAPOLIS - Gov. Mitch Daniels said Friday that the only real sticking points left in negotiations on his transportation package is whether to reroute or toll sections of the Interstate 69 extension.
The governor said there are many solutions still on the table but when pushed, declined to give any specifics.
I-69 has become a key negotiating point on House Bill 1008, dubbed Major Moves, which would authorize Daniels to lease the Indiana Toll Road. A consortium bid $3.85 billion for that right. In the House version, the governor would also be given the authority to do future lease agreements.
In the Senate version, the ability to do future deals was stripped and a provision was added to bar I-69 from running through Perry Township on the south side of Indianapolis if it is a toll road.
Daniels said Friday that many options are on the table on the I-69 issues. Asked if he was considering making all of the I-69 extension a freeway, Daniels demurred.
"All I can really say about that is that we're searching for a compromise," he said.
Asked if moving the Perry Township section was still on the table, the governor was noncommittal.
"I don't have anything additional to say," he said. But he said a change would mean a delay.
"You don't have to change very much in an official way to cause extensive delays, throw the door open to even nuisance litigation and the sort of things that have plagued this project for decades now," he said.
Asked if he was considering building the Perry Township section as a freeway but making other portions of I-69 a toll road, Daniels said he wanted "the possibility of other revenue through some tolling somewhere."
One thing Daniels was clear about: no matter what the final version of House Bill 1008 says about rerouting or tolling I-69, it's the highway's best bet.
"This is the only plan that would give 69 a chance," he said.
The governor sounded optimistic that the bill will pass by the Tuesday midnight deadline for session to close.
"I think it will go through," Daniels said. "I do think we'll get there."