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Mitch's Myths - the road to hell is paved with PR Indy Bypass Toll Road - the latest proposal without a need Illiana Toll Road - will northern Indiana have any free roads left? New Terrain I-69 - throwing a billion dollars out the window Indiana Toll Road - raw deal with lessons for other tollroad proposals
LINKS
No Illiana Expressway
TURF
Save Our Turnpikes
YouTube
PBS: Texas Tollroads
- part 1
Specific Information
SB 1
both toll roads
"The Highwaymen" -- by Daniel Schulman & James Ridgeway for Mother Jones -- An expose' about the sale of the IN Toll Road by Mitch Daniels -- this is a MUST READ !!
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Governor Mitch Daniels continues to press for privatization and tolling of Indiana highways in order to generate short term cash. His PR machine puts out erroneous and incomplete information to convince the public. With his Legislative arm-twisting, he seeks to fast-track the decisions so that Indiana's elected officials do not have the time to fully investigate the real impacts on the citizens and taxpayers of Indiana. Mitch Daniels is putting private sector profits over the long term good of the next four generations of Hoosiers. 2006 Legislative Session In 2006, Mitch Daniels strong-armed permission to sell the Indiana Toll Road through the Legislature. While the $3.6 billion dollars (one third of our normal 10 year highway spending budget) will be spent within 10 years, the lease will run for 75 years. So, if you are 20 years old, your great-great-grandchildren will be teenagers when the contract comes up for renewal. He got
permission to privatize and toll the proposed new
terrain I-69
except for the segment between Indy and Martinsville.
The Legislature also enacted a law that
bars new terrain I-69 from passing through Perry
Township in Marion County. He planned to divert $700
million from the sale of the Indiana Toll Road to help build new terrain
I-69, while selling the rights to toll along that route in privatization
deal. "I-69 will be a toll road or no road", he declared. [New
Terrain I-69 was estimated by INDOT to cost $1 billion more than the
Common Sense Route - A quick study by Bernardin & Lochmueller reiterated the findings of earlier INDOT studies that showed traffic will be so light on new terrain I-69 that tolling will not work as a financing tool. Suddenly, Daniels no longer spoke of privatizing and tolling new terrain I-69 -- he had a NEW IDEA : Privatize and toll a brand new road, the Indianapolis ByPass Toll Road (Mitch's PR machine dubbed it the Indiana Commerce Corridor, pretending that building highways is an intelligent economic development mechanism). This new agreement supposedly will generate enough money to complete the financing for the exorbitantly expensive new terrain I-69. 2007 Legislative Session Mitch Daniels now wants the new Legislature to give him permission to build, toll, and privatize this Indy ByPass Toll Road. His PR machine is dishing out the usual bad information and attempting to lock in the support of local officials fast enough to keep analysis of the proposal as cursory and inadequate for this boondoggle as it was last Legislative Session for the sale of the Indiana Toll Road. Senator Tom Wyss (R-Fort Wayne) introduced a bill (SB 1) to switch the Governor's authorization to toll and privatize New Terrain I-69 onto his proposed Indy ByPass Toll Road and the Illiana Toll Road. This bill passed out of the Senate and now awaits hearing in the Transportation Committee of the House. Chairwoman Terri Austin will conduct Field Hearings in the affected counties. Over in the house, HB 1209 would remove the ban on routing I-69 through Perry Township in Marion County, the ban on tolling I-69 between Martinsville and Indianapolis, and the requirement that the Governor seek Legislative prior authorization for each road he tolls or privatizes. All three requirements were passed last year as part of the Major Moves legislation. This bill did not get a hearing in the House. We will watch for any action by the Senate to attach it to a bill that did pass out of the House. SB 14 allows INDOT to privatize any passenger or freight railroad project without prior legislative approval, except any passenger railroad system operated by the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District. This bill has passed out of the Senate and awaits action in the House. Another bill worth watching is SB 468, that allows INDOT to designate corridors for future highways or the future widening of an existing highway. Anyone who owns land in such a designated corridor would not be able to make any significant improvements to that property unless they first give INDOT 60 days prior notice. This bill did not get a hearing in the Senate and may be dead for good.
Looking Forward
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