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Press Release: INDOT BUDGET SHORTFALL MUCH WORSE THAN REPORTED.
29 June 05
For Immediate Release:
Contacts:
Marion County Alliance of Neighborhood Associations Pat Andrews,
(317) 856-3341
Citizens for Appropriate Rural Roads (CARR) Thomas & Sandra
Tokarski, (812) 825-9555
Hoosier Environmental Council Tim Maloney, 317-685-8800
COUNT US! John Smith, (812) 327-6142
Note: There are three attachments to this Press Release: Sample
letter to legislators, Sample LRTP Senate
District 5, Map of Survey
Projects
INDOT BUDGET SHORTFALL MUCH WORSE THAN REPORTED.
A hundred projects dropped while starting date for proposed I-69 moved
up.
A comparative analysis of INDOT’s Long Range Transportation Plan
(LRTP) and Legislative Survey shows major discrepancies.
INDOT released a Legislative Survey in May, asking State Senators and
Representatives to help INDOT prioritize the State's new highway
projects, slated for the next decade. These projects exceed projected
revenue by $2.2 billion dollars. Elected officials received a
list of
proposed projects in the counties in their districts.
We compared the projects listed in INDOT's Survey with INDOT's Long
Range Transportation Plan (LRTP), which lists projects and the year
they are scheduled, through 2030. We have sent to each State
Senator
and State Representative a letter explaining the state-wide results
and a list of the projects in the LRTP for the counties associated
with their district. We indicate whether each project is included
in
the Survey INDOT sent them for their consideration.
STATEWIDE RESULTS
We found that 116 projects totaling $6.2 billion appear in both the
Survey and the LRTP - some, like the extension of I-69 from Indy to
Evansville, are not scheduled in the LRTP until after the next decade.
We found that 100 projects scheduled in the LRTP for the next decade,
were omitted in the Survey. These totaled $2.1 billion.
We found that 53 projects were listed in the Survey, but were not
included in the LRTP, even through 2030. 12 of these were added
to
the Survey in June. We have no ability to estimate the cost of
these
projects.
The $2 billion proposed I-69 project is advanced ahead of its start
date in the LRTP.
We encourage legislators to take a long, hard look at INDOT’s plans
and seriously consider if the proposed I-69 project is feasible.
Looking only at the projects listed in the LRTP for the next 10 years,
the new highway funding gap exceeds the expected revenue by a
staggering $4.4 billion. This is before adding the cost of the
proposed extension of I-69 or the cost of the 53 brand new
projects.
Including the proposed extension of I-69 balloons the funding gap to
$6.1 billion. Again, we have no estimate for the cost of the
brand
new projects.
Pat Andrews,Vice-President McANA (Marion County Alliance of
Neighborhood Associations) stated: "You just have to wonder why INDOT
distributed a Survey purporting to cover the next 10 years projects,
then left nearly half off, included half again brand new projects, and
pushed I-69 - the granddaddy of all highway projects - up into the
next decade. And, you just have to wonder why INDOT didn't
release
the real new highway funding gap figures."
Thomas Tokarski, President of CARR asks: " Is the Daniels'
administration setting up citizens and legislators for a major gas tax
increase or for privatization or tolling of highway projects?"
CONCLUSIONS
The new highway funding gap is at least twice that claimed by
INDOT.
Including the proposed extension of I-69 in the next ten years creates
an astronomical funding gap, proving once again
that the proposed
extension of I-69 threatens EVERY OTHER proposed new highway project
in the state of Indiana.