Bumps in the road?
It's not certain what it would cost to build an 63-mile Illiana Expressway from Interstate 57 in Illinois to Interstate 94 in LaPorte County -- or if private investors also would throw in cash beyond their costs. The proposed expressway also may face strong opposition in the Democrat-controlled Indiana House. The roles played by Northwest Indiana legislators, most of whom who are Democrats, may be key.
BY PATRICK GUINANE, Times of Northwest Indiana
pguinane@nwitimes.com
INDIANAPOLIS | Gov. Mitch Daniels says he is open to suggestions on how to spend any surplus cash that might come from a private bid to build the Illiana Expressway -- even using it to help fund commuter rail.
The Republican governor already had pledged that proceeds from an offer to build his proposed Indiana Commerce Connector tollway outside Indianapolis would help fund a southern extension of Interstate 69. But no one has detailed where the state would steer excess funds from an Illiana Expressway bid in Northwest Indiana.
"It's quite conceivable that either of these projects, if they move forward, might generate not just a free road but also some premium to the state," Daniels said Friday. "And someone in the state needs to be thinking about what could be done with that.
"Perhaps it's an answer to local road needs. Or it could be dedicated to specific projects. The South Shore (commuter rail road) comes to mind in the case of the Illiana."
The Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority is staring at a $900 million price tag for a proposal to extend the South Shore line to Lowell and Valparaiso.
It's not clear, however, what it would cost to build an 63-mile Illiana Expressway from Interstate 57 in Illinois to Interstate 94 in LaPorte County -- or if private investors also would throw in any cash beyond construction costs.
Either way, the Illiana and the Commerce Connector aren't high priorities for House Democrats. On Friday, they presented a state budget bill that claims the state cannot contract out feasibility studies for private tollways without prior legislative approval.
The provision stands little chance in the Republican-led Senate, but it's another sign of opposition to anything that could be considered privatization.
"I don't know what you'd call these two new roads that are going to gobble up all those homes and farms," said House Speaker Pat Bauer, D-South Bend.
Legislation to authorize the tollways, Senate Bill 1, breezed through the Senate, but it's unclear whether Bauer will grant it a hearing in the House.
Key Northwest Indiana Democrats said the governor's office hasn't approached them about making the highway bill more palatable.
Daniels only said he "had conversations" about how to allocate potential Illiana proceeds and that "it ought to be thought about now, not just because it might attract more votes, but because it's an important question."
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