Critics: Daniels' plan delays road projects

INDIANAPOLIS - Critics say Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels' 10-year road plan shifts the most expensive projects to later years, delaying the toughest budget decisions.\nDaniels' plan, intended to solve the state's $2.1 billion road construction shortfall, would privatize two interstate highways and raise tolls in northern Indiana.\nState Department of Transportation officials have said previous Democratic administrations never drafted a workable road construction blueprint. But Democrats told The Indianapolis Star for a story Saturday that Daniels' plan is no better.\n"They've said that the previous program did not meet the income," said House Democratic leader Patrick Bauer, of South Bend. "Well, if that's true, then they have developed a similar program. They have just reordered it a little bit."\nThe plan sets a timeline for more than 200 road projects, totaling $5.2 billion within the next decade.\nThe first two years of the plan call for $400 million in road construction, but the last two years plan for $1.5 billion in construction funds.\nTransportation officials said many projects were booked for later years because those ideas require years of planning and design before construction can start. And Republican leaders said the 10-year plan is dependent upon privatizing roads, which is expected to bring in money for the state.\n"Perhaps those opponents who are critical aren't accustomed to long-range planning," said Senate President Pro Tem Robert Garton, R-Columbus. "It's obviously all subject to review and reconsideration. But that's what a long-range plan is."\nDennis E. Faulkenberg, a road lobbyist, said he was impressed at Daniels' timetable, but said money must be found for the plan to work.\n"What they are proposing looks pretty bold to me," he said. "It sounds like a long time, but (10 years is) pretty quick in road-building terms."\nDemocratic leaders applaud Daniels for tackling the road funding issue, but also say the numbers hinge almost exclusively on the success of the governor's privatization plan.\nDaniels wants to lease tolling and concession rights on the Indiana Toll Road and a yet-to-be-built stretch of I-69. Those plans will require General Assembly approval.