Theodore Kim has an article in the Indy Star entitled Road-project blitz faces rising costs on the subject of the Toll Road privatization money and road construction. (The article kindly flagged for me by Paul O’Malley). There appears to be a clumsy effort at a hard sell to get the money spent sooner, rather than later.
But some lawmakers and construction industry experts aren’t so sure, fearing that fast-rising costs could overwhelm those investment gains and force an overhaul of the plan.
“All of that is a real concern, which makes us very interested in the Major Moves money that’s there and making sure it’s not diverted to other things,” said Dennis Faulkenberg, a lobbyist for the road-building industry.
. . .
Rising fuel and commodity prices already have significantly increased the cost of steel, bricks and asphalt, according to the Associated General Contractors of America. Highway and street construction costs overall have soared between 11 percent and 14 percent annually in each of the past three years, according to the contractors’ group.
. . .
Rep. Randy L. Borror, R-Fort Wayne, the lawmaker who sponsored the governor’s Major Moves legislation last year, said concern about rising costs argues for moving fast on the administration’s road-building efforts.The longer the money remains in the bank, the higher costs escalate and the greater the temptation to tap into that money for other purposes.
“We wanted to get the money in the ground as quickly as possible,” he said. “I don’t want to hold on to this money.”
First of all, perhaps lawmakers should consider that fast-rising fuel costs are an argument for less road construction, not more. Second, arguments by current lawmakers and by road construction interests that we have to sink all of the money into roads right now seems a little self-serving. Motorists of northern Indiana are going to be paying the tab for this for the next 7 decades. Perhaps we shouldn’t be in an even greater hurry to spend their money.
[tags]privatization[/tags]
Eisenhower flagged the Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex as a problem at the federal level. We have a Trucking Industry-Road Contractor-Legislative Complex at work here in Indiana, with Randy Borror and Mitch Daniels operating as its Godfathers. Better spend that money as fast as possible so that the Road Contractors remember that it is the state Republican Party that they need to reward in the coming election cycle.