INDIANAPOLIS | The public might not be sold on the Illiana Expressway, but the federal government likes what it has seen so far.
The 63-mile highway, which Gov. Mitch Daniels wants to build as a privately financed tollway, is one of two Indiana projects selected among 14 finalists for the federal Corridors of the Future Program. The U.S. Department of Transportation initiative aims to accelerate multistate projects geared toward alleviating highway congestion.
A dream of regional planners for decades, the Illiana Expressway is designed to draw truck traffic off the Borman Expressway. Daniels is asking the Indiana General Assembly to allow private financing for the proposed tollway, which would start at Interstate 57 in Illinois, run east to Interstate 65 and then cut north to link with Interstate 94 in LaPorte County.
An exact route still is years away, but a conceptual map offered by the state has drawn concern and opposition from rural residents in southern Porter County.
"Our membership is adamant that there's no reason for it, there's no justification given for it and we're opposed to it completely," said Dave Ahlberg, a Morgan Township resident who helped organize Citizens Against the Privatized Illiana Toll Road.
Indiana's second corridors contender is a relative unknown, at least outside of engineering circles. The plan is to add dedicated commercial truck lanes along Interstate 70 from Ohio to Missouri.
"The concept there is to provide a facility that would be very attractive for truckers to use and pay tolls -- higher speeds, the ability to carry heavier weight, things like that," said Joseph Gustin, deputy commissioner of public-private partnerships for the Indiana Department of Transportation.
INDOT has taken the lead on both multistate projects and is hiring consultants to prepare final federal applications that will stress the public benefits of each initiative, as well opportunities for private financing. Winning proposals likely would become eligible for tax-exempt bonds, a powerful lure that could mean millions in savings for a private firm willing to build a tollway under a long-term state lease.
It's not surprising that, under Daniels' leadership, Indiana has two projects competing for up to five federal Corridors of the Future designations, said Kumares Sinha, director of the Joint Transportation Research Program at Purdue University.
Sinha, a civil engineering professor who studies traffic management, said the Illiana Expressway could greatly benefit the region.
"When we designed our freeway system, we designed for 5 (percent) to 10 percent truck traffic. Truck traffic has increased just tremendously over the last 10, 15, 20 years, particularly in Northwest Indiana," Sinha said. "If you look at the Borman Expressway, it's not unusual to have 40 (percent) to 50 percent trucks some parts of the day."
