By Keith Benman, Times of Northwest Indiana
keith.benman@nwi.com
Northwest Indiana legislators are preparing to introduce legislation that would authorize developing the Illiana Expressway as a public-private partnership, clearing the way for the state to search for private investors for the long talked about highway.
On Saturday, state Reps. Chet Dobis, D-Merrillville, and Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso, confirmed legislation concerning the proposed Illiana Expressway will be introduced this session, but both said they could not release details until that is done.
The proposed 25-mile expressway would run from Interstate 65 in Indiana west through southern Lake County and on to Interstate 57 in Illinois.
The deadline to file legislation in the Indiana House is 2 p.m. today. Dobis is expected to submit the bill.
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn's position on the legislation could not be determined Monday. While he has expressed support for the proposed highway, it is not known if he would support bringing in private investors to help fund the project as a tollway.
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels has proposed developing the road as a public-private partnership from design through operation. In such transactions, private investors put up money for building the road in exchange for the right to collect tolls once it is operating.
Four years ago, Daniels engineered the blockbuster 75-year lease of the Indiana Toll Road to ITR Concession Co., a Spanish-Australian partnership, for $3.8 billion. Building the Illiana Expressway as a public-private enterprise would result in no such windfall payment for the state, as the private investors' money would be used to build the tollway.
One way to introduce the legislation in the Indiana General Assembly would be as an amendment to the 2006 law that authorized privatizing the Toll Road.
When asked Saturday if he supports the legislation, state Rep. Earl Harris, D-East Chicago, said he saw no opposition to it among legislators so far.
The entire Northwest Indiana delegation has met on the issue, and local labor unions have also been in on discussions about the pending legislation.
A study commissioned by Indiana and Illinois that was released six months ago showed the road would help steer trucks off local roads and cut travel times from southern Lake County to some Illinois destinations by a third or more. However, in a surprise finding, the study said the new highway would not provide significant relief for the oft-congested Borman Expressway.