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http://www.thetimesonline.com/articles/2004/08/30/news/top_news/d1f577c9d51211be86256eff0058d486.prt This story ran on nwitimes.com on Monday, August 30, 2004 12:02 AM CDT Money pothole threatens state road projects BY BRENDAN O'SHAUGHNESSYTimes Statehouse Bureau Chief INDIANAPOLIS -- If Indiana is at the heart of the nation's highway crossroads, then the northwest region is the aortic artery to Chicago so constricted it's ready to burst. Highway upgrade projects are the necessary stent, but plans to pay for them are facing plenty of roadblocks, transportation advocates said. Transportation costs dominated the Indiana governor's race last week, but committing to a guaranteed monetary solution for the highway construction needs of Northwest Indiana remains the road less traveled. Republican Mitch Daniels' campaign and business advocates said the Indiana Department of Transportation can't afford to keep up with its maintenance schedule, much less pay for high-profile new projects like Interstate 69. Building a new-route I-69 from Indianapolis to Evansville is Indiana's portion of a plan to create a Mexico-to-Canada route, but cost estimates run as high as $3.3 billion. Gov. Joe Kernan's campaign blasted Daniels for considering a toll on U.S. 31, a route connecting South Bend to Indianapolis, to upgrade it into an interstate highway. That would be a $1.4 billion project. Kernan proposed to push for more federal dollars and said he'd consider increasing user fees at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. Both sides said increasing the gas tax was a last option, but wouldn't rule it out. The last increase in the gasoline tax bumped the charge to 18 cents per gallon from 15 cents in 2002. Dennis Faulkenberg, a lobbyist for road construction industry group Build Indiana Council, said the state currently doesn't have any money to build new roads. The state's long-term plan calls for $31 billion in maintenance and expansion projects between 2000 and 2025. It also identifies current state and federal revenues at $14 billion, which would cover only the projection for maintenance and leave nothing for expensive new initiatives. No money for new projects Faulkenberg said cuts of $300 million -- numbers confirmed by INDOT -- after this year threaten upgrade projects scheduled across the state. "They're not going to build any of them if they are not built this year, because they will be in a maintenance-only mode," said Faulkenberg, a former INDOT chief financial officer. "The Borman Expressway is the poster child of highway needs in Indiana. Something has to be done to relieve congestion in Northwest Indiana." Drivers in the region know too well that something big is being done, with construction snarling traffic on I-80/94 between Illinois and Interstate 65 all summer. The current Borman project is part of a $300 million plan, scheduled in sections through the end of 2008, to ease the passage of 155,000 vehicles per day. Since 1970, state traffic has increased 150 percent, freight by 600 percent, and road miles just 6 percent, according to the council. A 2003 study by the Texas Transportation Institute found commuters in the region lose $515 in wasted time and fuel each year because of congestion. Faulkenberg and the Indiana Chamber of Commerce on Friday encouraged the candidates to continue debating a range of options to generate enough money to satisfy INDOT's published long-range plans. "Highways are the lifeblood of the state's economy," said Kevin Brinegar, chamber president. "In order to fuel the growth of our economy, it is essential that our next governor makes the financial commitment to repair and build new roads." Even with the best scenario among two federal highway bills competing in Congress, Indiana will be left with a $2 billion shortfall between now and 2010, Brinegar said. Road issues riddled with politics Dan Gardner, interim executive director of the Northwest Indiana Regional Planning Commission, said he's concerned about how state finances will affect a number of priorities in the region. He said the state has been aggressive in securing money through bonding and federal sources, and has been generous in transforming the northwest corner over the last six years. Gardner said he is keeping his eye on large new projects like I-69 and U.S. 31. "As those projects deplete the state's ability to do other projects, it certainly does concern us," he said. "The Borman is already torn up, so anything that stretches that out is going to be critical. These things have a snowballing effect." Gardner said other state-funded priorities in the region include expanding Indianapolis Boulevard and U.S. 30, two routes that have become more dangerous as suburban populations boom. Bill Oesterle, Daniels' campaign manager, said Kernan is promising new projects with no way of funding them. He said building I-69 and upgrading U.S. 31 would mean an end to all other construction projects. Kernan said Daniels should have spent more of his time in Washington fighting for Hoosier highway money. He said he is pushing to return more than the current 90 percent of the state's gas tax dollars to Indiana for road projects and that he won't consider toll roads. Brendan O'Shaughnessy can be reached at boshaughnessy@nwitimes.com or (317) 637-9078. |
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