Indiana Toll Road

If you’ve taken a road trip in the past few years, you’ve definitely spotted the billboards dotting Indiana’s interstates and highways advertising cannabis dispensaries in Michigan and Illinois.

The Indiana Toll Road banned all triple and double semitrailers from early Wednesday through 6 p.m. Thursday as well as high-profile steel haulers and high-profile oversize permit loads.

The rate for "heavy" trucks -- those with three or more axles -- went up 35 percent in 2018 on the Indiana Toll Road, which spans the northernmost part of the state.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association Inc., Utah-based Chutka Trucking LLC, Indiana truck driver Mark Elrod and Ohio-based B.L. Reever Transport Inc. filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday challenging the constitutionality of the fee hike.

The new Toll Road lease will generate $1 billion for the state over the next two years. The money will come from increased tolls on trucks.

The Owner-Operated Independent Drivers Association sent a letter to Gov. Eric Holcomb opposing a plan to increase tolling fees on five-axle vehicles using the Indiana Toll Road.

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.

The Indiana Finance Authority will consider approving the new fee hike deal on Thursday.

State officials say $600 million of the investment will be used to speed up construction of Interstate 69 between Martinsville and Indianapolis.

For the last few years the focus has been on improving infrastructure on the Toll Road. Now the company running the it wants to now focus on road safety, by using an "intelligent transportation system."