MUNSTER, Ind. (AP)
- The Indiana Department of Transportation formally asked vendors Thursday
for information regarding possible tolling on Interstates 65, 70 and 94, as
required by the General Assembly.
The agency issued a
request for information asking potential contractors for advice on planning
a tolling program that can be expanded, The (Northwest Indiana) Times
reported.
A request for
information, or RFI, is a formal information-gathering process that
generally, but not necessarily, leads to a request for proposals to do
necessary planning work.
"INDOT anticipates
pursuing a broad interstate bridge tolling program," the RFI says. "The
proposed actions are reconstruction and tolling of applicable bridges within
the corridors and expansion of the current four-lane roadway sections to six
lanes."
Responses to the
RFI are due June 28.
A law passed this
year by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Eric Holcomb required INDOT
to investigate tolling with the intention of creating $5 billion in funding
for the state's roads and bridges. Higher gas taxes and vehicle registration
fees also are part of the funding plan.
The law requires
INDOT to perform feasibility studies and seek a Federal Highway
Administration waiver that would allow tolling.
INDOT also
published a draft contract with the engineering firm HDR to create a tolling
feasibility report for all the state's interstates. The agreement lists
several tasks, including creating a project management plan, doing traffic
and revenue analyses, performing a public survey to gauge support for
tolling, and doing an assessment of potential economic impacts.
The report is due
Oct. 31, according to the draft agreement.