Indiana's Gov Daniels signs P3 law for Illiana Exwy, new Ohio River bridges

Indiana governor Mitch Daniels has signed SB382 into law allowing the state to move forward to develop toll concessions or public-private aprtnerships (P3s) for the Illiana Expressway and Ohio River bridges.

Illiana Expressway is an east-west highway on the southern fringe of the greater Chicago area which includes northwest Indiana. Ohio River bridges are central to movement within the Louisville Kentucky metro area, part of which includes major communities in southeastern Indiana.

The Ohio River bridges project is being supervised by a bistate commission with Kentucky, and Gov Daniels said this week he plans to meet shortly with Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and will propose a similar bistate commission to coordinate the Illiana Expressway project.

The Indiana legislation was supported by both major parties and passed both houses of the legislature without serious opposition.

It provides for the state to be represented in negotiation of toll concessions by the Indiana Finance Authority, the outfit which signed the Indiana Toll Road concession contract with Cintra-Macquarie on behalf of the state.

Indiana DOT will have a major role in the planning. Studies and public hearings are required to get local input.

An Indiana general assembly 'digest' of the bill states that it:

- Requires the preparation of an economic impact study before a request for proposals (RFP) is issued.

- Requires a public hearing concerning the study on the proposed project. After the preliminary selection of an operator, requires a public hearing on the preliminary selection and the public-private agreement.

- Requires various postings and notices before the hearing.

- Provides that a public-private agreement must: (1) require the completion of all environmental analyses required by state and federal law; and (2) provide for an expedited method for resolving disputes among or between IFA or INDOT, other parties to the agreement, and units of local government that contain part of a project.

- Provides that the eminent domain laws in effect as of January 1, 2010, apply to the use of eminent domain for a project by the IFA or INDOT and to the rights of property owners affected by such a use of eminent domain. In the INDOT statute, provides that the public-private agreement must specify that ownership of the project is to be in the name of the state (this requirement is already in the IFA statute).

- Provides that the bill applies to public-private agreements entered into after March 14, 2010.

Highspeed rail promoters managed to get tacked onto the bill a requirement for a totally unrelated study of a route for highspeed rail to South Bend and Fort Wayne.

Reports in TOLLROADSnews:

http://www.tollroadsnews.com/node/4637

http://www.tollroadsnews.com/node/4551

NOTE: Initial plans provide for a shorter project than shown in the map below.

TOLLROADSnews 2010-03-19