How do you feel about the toll road being sold? (Indianapolis: sale, lease)

[tablemtn]

I'm just curious about this, since it seems strange that a state like Indiana would so enthusiastically sell off such a big chunk of its taxpayer-funded infrastructure to foreigners. Did you support or oppose the sale of the Indiana Toll Road to Cintra-Macquarie, and how do you feel about the "non-competition" clause in the contract (which says that no one else can build a new road mirroring the route of the tollway)?

Was this move controversial at all in Indiana, or was it something people didn't really think about? And how has it affected the popularity of Mitch Daniels?

[domergurl]

It wasn't sold, it was leased, but that's splitting hairs. My kids will probably not see the end of the lease, I sure know I won't.

Controversial? Depends on where you live in this state. Here in central/southern Indiana, people could only see the $$$$$ and not the impact on the folks in Northern Indiana. People up there by and large were against the thing and saw it only as a boondoggle that would only benefit the rest of the state. All I know is that now, when we drive up to the region to visit relatives, getting on and off the toll road is a total hassle! When you get on the toll road from I-65, it costs a whole 15 cents. Before, I could literally breeze by and chuck my change into the baskets and barely break a sweat. Now, they have ONE PERSON ... PERSON ... PERSON, in a booth taking money MANUALLY!!!! Same when I get off the toll road at Cline Ave. ONE PERSON!!! TAKING MY QUARTER!!! Stupid!!!

But the roads around Indianapolis are getting nice! And yes, the clause about non-competing roads ... well, as long as the gov't sits in Indianapolis, who cares?? It's not affecting them at all. In the meantime, folks up north are waiting for the tolls to go skyward. My folks live near US6 and they have noticed the truck traffic on that road going up quite a bit since the lease. I'd imagine that US 20 is the same way.

It sill remains to be seen, but I don't see this benefiting anyone except Indianapolis and I-69, which wil probably be a tollroad run by CM from Indy to Evansville anyway.

All in all, it's a short sighted gain that the signers of the lease will never see the end of, so what do they care??