Daniels takes Toll Road talk to Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON | Gov. Mitch Daniels faced a new barrage of Toll Road questions Monday as he hosted a transportation roundtable regarding Indiana's Major Moves plan.

Daniels was in Washington attending the National Governors Association winter meeting. He said a number of governors have asked him about the proposed $3.85 billion lease of the Indiana Toll Road to the Spanish and Australian Macquarie-Cintra consortium and that they have expressed interest in creating similar plans in their states.

"There's hardly a governor in that building next door that doesn't have a serious gap between needs and revenues," Daniels said. "They tend to sort of slide up and say, 'How's that thing going?'"

Last week, the Indiana Senate Appropriations Committee approved Daniel's plan to lease the Toll Road but made substantial additions to his legislation.

"I've been pretty clear in saying I want to be flexible," Daniels said. "As long as (the state Senate) preserves the essence of the deal -- as long as it preserves our freedom to do the big projects -- then I'm pretty willing to be flexible."  

Daniels said he expects the Senate to act later this week. The House already approved the measure.

The governor called the Toll Road the "most antiquated" in the U.S., costing 34 cents to operate and maintain for every 15 cents it generates in tolls.

"A toll road has to pay for itself at a minimum, and it has to be modern," Daniels said, noting that it lacks automated toll options and modern roads.

"I want my fellow citizens to see the advantages of us competing and winning in a global economy that we can't escape," he said.

Critics have said the Macquarie-Cintra consortium is not a U.S. firm, meaning it would be a sort of absentee landlord. Others have worried that a private takeover of Toll Road management would cut jobs.

Daniels said he should have spent a lot more time talking about the "factual groundwork" of his plan to help " people understand this is not an out-of-the-blue notion."

But he said he would not change the short timetable under which he developed the lease plan, despite criticism that the process should have been subject to more scrutiny.

"These projects are already overdue," Daniels said. "Had I waited a year, I think the bid would have been smaller."

Another state "might want to take a more conventional timetable," he said.