John Tuohy

john.tuohy@indystar.com

An influential state lawmaker said Wednesday that charging tolls on the state's busiest freeways could be the long-term solution to Indiana’s road-funding needs.

“If we toll I-65 and I-70, that would free up $365 million a year that would allow us to pave and maintain six lanes from border to border,” said Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso.

A fiscal study of tolling highways is included in a House Republican bill for funding repairs to the state’s highway system. House Bill 1001 was introduced Wednesday during a hearing of the House Roads and Transportation Committee, where Soliday is chairman.

Although the bill contains $400 million per year in new fuel and sales taxes for highways, lawmakers from both parties and transportation experts generally agree that such fuel revenues won’t be enough to sustain necessary funding in the future. Gas tax collections have been on a downward slide the past several years. Americans are driving less, and cars get better mileage.

Soliday said polls show that smooth roads and sturdy bridges are increasingly important to Americans, so much so that half of all Hoosiers say they support a gas tax hike to pay for them. He said that is evidence that they might be open to paying tolls, as well.

“Suddenly we have seen a major shift in how the public sees our roads,” he said.

Tolling the interstates would take a long application process to the federal government and would require studies of how much wear and tear local roads would incur as drivers turn to them as toll-free routes, state transportation officials said.

The only toll road in Indiana, I-80/90, runs 157 miles from Illinois to Ohio along the state's northern border. But the state also is planning on charging a toll on the I-65 bridge over the Ohio River into Kentucky.

Lawmakers said other states get 6 percent, on average, of their road operating revenue from tolls, but Indiana gets only about 0.6 percent.

HB 1001 would raise the fuel tax 4 cents a gallon to 22 cents and would transfer 4 cents of the 7 cents sales tax on fuels to generate an additional $1 billion over the next five years and beyond. It also would hike the cigarette tax by $1 per pack, which would replace about $300 million in the fuel sales taxes diverted from the general fund.

The bill also calls for charging electric car owners a $100 yearly registration fee and allowing cities to charge a "wheel tax," as counties are allowed to do. The tax is a charge of up to $50 on car registrations to help fund local projects.

The Indiana Department of Transportation says it needs an extra $250 million a year to manage and upgrade roads and bridges, about half of which are 40 to 50 years old. The state plans to spend $640 million a year over the next five years on repairs and rebuilding.

The plan differs from one being offered by Gov. Mike Pence that adds $1 billion in road spending without raising taxes. Senate Bill 333 calls for using $241 million in state surplus funds, $240 million through borrowing and $450 million in legislative appropriations, starting this July, to fix the roads.

About 35 people lined up to voice their support or opposition to the bill at the hearing, including convenience store representatives, road builders and tax watchdog groups.

A convoy of mayors also took the microphone to relate their local transportation challenges.

The mayor of LaPorte, who describes her city on its website as the “hub of awesome,” said the roads there are awful.

“We need $1.2 million to $1.7 million for maintenance of the roads just to get them to an acceptable level,” Mayor Blair Milo said.

Westfield Mayor Andy Cook quipped that the roads across Indiana are so bad that the state should be known as “the rough roads of America” rather than the "Crossroads of America.”

“In Westfield, there is no larger asset than our roads, which touches every one of our constituents every day," Cook said. “Indiana needs a top-quality transportation infrastructure, and we don’t have that today.”

Call Star reporter John Tuohy at (317) 444-6418. Follow him on Twitter: @john_tuohy.