I-90 Indiana Toll Road Expansion Planned

Interstate 90 -- the Indiana Toll Road -- will be expanding to three lanes from Ripley Street in Lake Station to mile marker 10 in Gary, Indiana, according to the Indiana Toll Road Concession, reports the Post-Tribune.

Road work on the $215 million road construction project is scheduled to begin in 2008 and continue until 2010.

"We're going to maintain two lanes of traffic east- and westbound throughout the project," ITR spokesman Matt Pierce said. Work has begun on moving utilities and railroads around the structure, Pierce said.

Copyright 2007, Christopher Hedges .com, All Rights Reserved.

I-90 Indiana Toll Road Road Construction Indiana Toll Road Concession

Is Indiana Toll Road Operator's Parent Macquarie Bank Stable?

The Indiana Toll Road
toll booths at the I-65 Exit in Gary.

Did the fallout from the sub-prime mortgage market collapse destroy the financial underpinnings of Macquarie Bank -- the company that leased the Indiana Toll Road and the Chicago Skyway with Spanish corporation Cintra? The bank says their financial model is "robust."

News.com.au reports that Fortune magazine has a report about Macquarie Bank set for publication. Hat tip to Taking Down Words for spotting the article.

Fortune's interest in Macquarie follows the bank's move into the US infrastructure securitisation market, which is relatively undeveloped and has become politically controversial.

Macquarie and Spanish company Cintra did the first privatisation of a US toll road in 2004, when they offered $US1.8 billion for a 99-year lease on the Chicago Skyway toll road, paying almost $US1 billion more than the next highest bid.

They followed up with a $US3.8 billion deal to run the connecting Indiana Toll Road.

The article notes that, as the concept of infrastructure privatisation gets off the ground in the US, "there is widespread resentment and cynicism about the notion of private companies making money off what has long been perceived as public property".

The article suggests that the "financial structures underpinning Macquarie's assets" may be "as unstable as the steel that supported the Interstate 35W bridge" in the US, which recently collapsed.

Macquarie chief executive Allan Moss told analysts on Friday that many recent criticisms of the bank had been made by people who had "not taken the trouble to study Macquarie Bank" closely.

"They are not views that have been given any serious credit by serious investors or serious analysts," he said.

"It is well understood that we have a very robust business model."

Copyright 2007, Christopher Hedges .com, All Rights Reserved.

Macquarie Bank Cintra Indiana Toll Road Indiana Toll Road Operator Chicago Skyway

I-69 Designed Corridor Of The Future

The Illiana Expressway didn't win designation as a Corridor of the Future, but another Indiana highway that could potentially link Canada with Mexico -- I-69 -- did.

From Inside Indiana Business:

Interstate 69 begins at the U.S./Canadian border north of Detroit and extends southward to Indianapolis. The corridor is then in various stages of development and construction from Indianapolis south through Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas before reaching the Mexican border near Laredo. All eight states from Michigan to Texas are part of the I-69 Steering Committee that was formed in 1993 to oversee the development of the route. Hoosier Voices for I-69, the statewide advocacy organization in Indiana, has worked closely with the Steering Committee and the Mid-Continent Highway Coalition to ensure national recognition of the Indiana segments of the highway.

In Indiana, the I-69 extension from Indianapolis to Evansville is currently in the Tier 2 study process and is on a current timetable for a ground-breaking in 2008.

Copyright 2007, Christopher Hedges, All Rights Reserved.


I 69 NAFTA highway Canada Mexico highway Corridor of the Future Interstate

Illiana Expressway Cut From Corridors Of The Future Program

The Illiana Expressway was cut from the Corridors of the Future program, but that doesn't mean that the project to build an interstate connecting I-57 in Will County, Illinois to I-65 in Lake County, Indiana won't still proceed.

From the Northwest Indiana Times:

The Illiana Expressway failed to make the final cut for the federal Corridors of the Future program, a setback that chokes off both instant planning cash and long-term financial perks for the long-stalled Northwest Indiana highway.

Copyright 2007, Christopher Hedges, All Rights Reserved.

Tech Tags: Illiana Illiana+Expressway Illiana+Legislation Illiana+Toll+Road Interstate Transportation Public+Private+Toll+Roads

South Shore Extension Gets Visclosky's Help

Indiana Rep. Pete Visclosky took a trip to Indianapolis to ask state legislators to help with funding for an extension of the South Shore line to Lowell and Valparaiso.

Reports the Post-Tribune:

Northwest Indiana's staunchest advocates for extending the South Shore rail line took their pitch to the Statehouse on Monday, where legislators questioned the wisdom of giving the region new taxing powers to help pay for the $1 billion project.

U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky told the Senate's Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee the state needs to act quickly to take advantage of $500 million in federal transportation money to help subsidize the expansion of the commuter rail line south to Lowell and east to Valparaiso.

Extending commuter rail service south and eastward would be a good thing for Northwest Indiana's economy as it would make it easier to travel to and from Chicago for work and play.

Copyright 2007, Christopher C. Hedges, All Rights Reserved.


Commuter rail South Shore Valparaiso Lowell Pete Visclosky commuter rail legislation

Public Interest Group Issues Negative Indiana Toll Road Report

The Blue Indiana blog -- never a friend of the Mitch Daniel's administration that set up and oversaw the lease of the Indiana Toll Road to private interests -- found a US Public Interest Research Group report that says that the Indiana Toll Road lease was a bad deal for future Indiana taxpayers.

As I said, there is much more in the report, so go check it out. The general implication is, unfortunately, that the Indiana Toll Road lease and Major Moves program, while potentially politically useful for Governor Daniels now, will almost certainly result in numerous long-term problems for the state and the future generations who will be forced to live with the decisions of this administration.

It remains to be see whether the Indiana Toll Road lease works out for the best in the end, but Governor Mitch Daniel's administration points to huge interest that is being earned on the up-front lease payment that was obtained from the Indiana Toll Road operators.

Copyright 2007, ChristopherHedges.com, All Rights Reserved.

Tech Tags: Illiana Illiana+Expressway Illiana+Legislation Illiana+Toll+Road Interstate Transportation Public+Private+Toll+Roads