New Indiana Toll Road Deal Gets Final Approval

The Indiana Finance Authority gave final approval to Gov. Eric Holcomb’s $1 billion deal with the Indiana Toll Road company.

Toll rates on commercial trucks will increase Oct. 5 after Thursday’s unanimous vote.

Indiana will get $1 billion over three years in the deal with the private toll road operator. That comes with a one-time, 35 percent toll rate hike on commercial trucks, which has drawn sharp criticism from trucking companies. Office of Management and Budget Director Micah Vincent – who's also on the IFA Board – says passenger vehicle toll rate hikes were never discussed.

“There’s a different impact to roads in general as you move up the scale of the weight of vehicles,” Vincent says.

Indiana gets the billion dollars in three installments, starting next month. Public Finance Director Dan Huge told the IFA Board there are measures in the deal – letters of credit from banks – to minimize risk.

“Meaning if the concessionaire does not pay us promptly, we can immediately make a demand upon that bank and be paid from that letter of credit,” Huge says.

The money will go primarily toward major road projects.