Indiana Commerce Corridor

The Indiana Commerce Corridor or ICC for short, was a proposed 75-mile (120 km) toll expressway that will serve as an outer loop of Indianapolis. Cost estimates for the proposed toll road range between $1 billion and $1.5 billion, which would be 100% privately funded under Governor Mitch Daniels' proposal. The proposal was abandoned by the governor on March 24, 2007.

History

The current I-465 loop around Indianapolis was completed in 1970. Since then the city has grown outward drastically with its population today approaching 1 million residents. That growth has put significant strain on I-465 and other major highways leading into and out of downtown Indianapolis. During the 1990s and early 2000s several projects were completed to reconstruct and expand I-465 to relieve most chronic congestion, but as Indianapolis continues to grow, officials concluded that a new outer loop beyond I-465 is necessary to handle traffic around Indianapolis.

Major moves legislation

In March 2006, the Indiana General Assembly passed legislation dubbed "Major Moves", that in addition to leasing the Indiana East-West Toll Road and construction of the I-69 Southern Indiana Toll Road, it allows the governor to enter into P3 arrangements (subject to legislative approval) on additional existing and future highways.

Development

One of the objectives of the Daniels' Administration is to enter into an agreement with a private firm to design, build, and operate the proposed toll road. In exchange, the firm(s) that win the lease rights to the toll road would pay the State of Indiana a lump-sum initial payment, similar to the Indiana Toll Road lease deal. Unlike the ITR lease (and the planned I-69/SITR arrangement), however, the State of Indiana would also receive a portion of the toll revenues that would be used for transportation projects statewide. Due to the controversy of extending I-69 to Evansville as the SITR, Governor Daniels suggested that revenues generated by the Indiana Commerce Corridor may be applied to extend I-69 to Evansville as a toll-free route.

Routing

The ICC was planned to start at the existing I-69 northeast of Indianapolis near Pendleton. It would have headed south, paralleling State Road 9, and intersect with I-70 near Greenfield. The ICC would have continued heading south towards Shelbyville to intersect I-74. The toll road would then turn southwest paralleling State Road 44, intersecting I-65 near Franklin. From I-65, the route would have continued southwesterly, intersecting with State Road 37/Future I-69/SITR near Martinsville. Finally, the toll road was to then turn north, terminating at I-70 west of Indianapolis International Airport. [ [http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061110/LOCAL/61109043 Gov. wants toll road loop around Indy, Indianapolis Star, Nov 10, 2006] ] [ [http://www.in.gov/gov/pdfs/IndianaCommerceConnectoradditionalinfo.pdf Indiana.gov Indiana Commerce Connector.pdf] ]

Cancellation

In January 2007, Governor Mitch Daniels introduced legislation, known as Senate Bill 1, which would authorize the governor to enter into an agreement with a private firm to design, build, and operate the Indiana Commerce Corridor and the Illiana Expressway in the northwestern part of the state. The legislation easily passed through the Republican-controlled Senate, but it immediately stalled in the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives. After extensive public opposition, particularly in the vicinity of Martinsville, and the realization that the House was unlikely to approve Senate Bill 1, Governor Daniels announced on March 24, 2007 his decision to cancel the Indiana Commerce Corridor and begin a comprehensive study on transportation issues in and around Indianapolis. [ [http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070325/LOCAL19/703250428 Daniels abandons Indy-area toll road, Indianapolis Star, March 25, 2007] ] While public opposition to the ICC was the reason presented by Daniels for its cancellation, a major factor underlying this decision was the fact that private firms interested in developing, building, and operating the ICC had determined the route was not economically feasible.

References