Gov. Eric Holcomb announced Thursday he won’t move forward with a plan to toll Indiana’s interstate highways.
The comprehensive 2017 road funding bill required a study of tolling.
The results suggest tolls on major highways could help ensure long-term, sustainable road funding – especially as current revenues from gas taxes begin to decline, likely within the next decade.
But the study also says such a system would be complicated and take a long time to set up – at least four years to collect the first toll and decades to fully flesh out a statewide system.
Holcomb says Indiana’s current road needs are adequately funded by that 2017 bill. And he says while he won’t pursue tolling, he had the Department of Transportation create a strategic plan for future leaders to consider.
That plan focuses on open road tolling – meaning no toll booths. And it centers on I-65, I-70, and I-94. The plan estimates tolls could eventually generate around $1 billion a year.
