10/21/04-The two major candidates for governor of Indiana are facing off again over the issue of tolling highways in the state.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Mitch Daniels said the state shouldn’t rule out the possibility of building the planned Interstate 69 extension as a toll road because the state doesn’t have the money to pay for the project.
Democratic Gov. Joe Kernan, however, called consideration of additional toll roads in the state a bad idea and said an I-69 toll would stifle economic development along the Indianapolis-to-Evansville route.
Daniels told a gathering of local businesses in Evansville Tuesday, Oct. 19, that the I-69 extension should be built as soon as possible, but there are problems.
“There isn’t any money for it right now,” he said.
He recommended the state “look at tolling as an option. Money will not fall out of the sky from Washington.”
Under plans announced last year, the state would extend the highway in a project estimated to cost about $1.8 billion and take eight to 14 years to build.
Both candidates have said they supported construction of the extension and both have made similar comments about the possibility of additional toll roads.
Kernan on Tuesday told the Evansville Courier & Press that Indiana must battle for a larger share of federal highway funds, something Daniels also mentions in stump speeches.
The state now gets back about 90 cents for every dollar paid in federal fuel taxes.
Kernan said the Senate version of the transportation reauthorization bill pending in Congress would increase Indiana’s share to 95 cents. Daniels said that even if that version passed, the state would still fall $2 billion short of what it needs for various highway projects.

8/26/04-Indiana’s two major candidates for governor continued to squabble Wednesday, Aug. 25, over the issue of tolling highways in the state.
Democratic Gov. Joe Kernan dismissed the idea of turning U.S. Highway 31 between South Bend and Indianapolis into a toll road.
Republican Mitch Daniels has said he would consider tolls to help pay for needed improvements on the stretch of road and to pay for the planned Interstate 69 extension to Evansville.
During stops Wednesday along U.S. 31, Kernan said both projects were priorities but he was not willing to impose a “new tax” on drivers to pay for them, The Associated Press reported.
He said progress was being made on upgrading the highway using state and federal transportation funds, and as an alternative to tolls, Indiana should continue to seek a larger share of federal dollars. The state now gets back about 90 cents for every dollar paid in federal fuel taxes.
Even a slight increase, he said, could generate as much as $300 million in additional highway dollars each year.
Daniels said Wednesday that toll roads could be a potential solution for funding some highway work, and many tolls would be paid by out-of-state drivers.
Whether it was the right solution for U.S. 31 should be left to transportation officials, he said, but it and other ideas should at least be considered.

8/20/04-Indiana secretary of commerce hopeful Patricia Miller said this week the upgrading of U.S. Highway 31 between South Bend and Indianapolis is of “utmost importance.”
Miller is in line to be named secretary of commerce if Republican Mitch Daniels beats out Democratic Gov. Joe Kernan in November. She also indicated that Daniels would consider the possibility of turning the highway into a toll road to pay for needed improvements.
Miller told the South Bend Tribune there may be ways to make the cost of the $1.4 billion highway project easier to swallow, and suggested the possibility of leasing rather than buying some of the property that will be needed.
“That’s what Mitch is saying,” Miller said of the lease proposal, adding that Daniels would also consider the latest in toll technology should it prove necessary to make the highway into a toll road to pay for the upgrades.
Tina Noel, a spokeswoman for Gov. Kernan, told the newspaper the governor has long supported the fastest possible upgrading of U.S. 31 and has made it a top priority throughout his terms as lieutenant governor and governor.
“That’s why we’ve seen progress on the project,” Noel said.