Poll: Most Hoosiers against toll road

INDIANAPOLIS -- A statewide poll has found a majority of Hoosiers disapprove of the leasing of the Indiana Toll Road to a private operator, a plan pushed through the General Assembly this year by Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels.\nThe WISH-TV Indiana Poll results released Friday found that of those interviewed, 55 percent did not approve of the toll road lease, while 39 percent supported it and 6 percent were not sure.\nThe Daniels administration in June finalized the 75-year lease of the 157-mile highway across northern Indiana to an Australian-Spanish consortium, Cintra-Macquarie. The company will collect all the toll revenue in return for an up-front payment to the state of $3.8 billion.\nMost of the money will be used to help finance hundreds of highway and other transportation projects, many of which Daniels said otherwise would never have happened or would have been decades away.\nThe lease, part of Daniels' "Major Moves" plan, passed the General Assembly with minimal support from Democratic legislators. Democrats have made their opposition to the lease a top campaign issue going into November's election.\nThe WISH-TV Indiana Poll found that among Republicans, 46 percent supported the lease, while 50 percent disapproved. Democrats were more critical, with 62 percent against the lease and 30 percent supporting. Among independents and those of other parties, 56 percent were opponents and 38 percent supported the lease.\nThe telephone poll of 800 likely voters was conducted Sept. 5-8 by Maryland-based Research 2000. The poll has a statewide sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.\nAmong other findings in the poll:\n— 21 percent said the economy was the most important issue facing the state, followed by health care costs (18 percent), taxes and state spending (17 percent), education funding (14 percent), illegal immigration (10 percent), the toll road (6 percent) and gas prices (5 percent).\n— The statewide adoption of daylight-saving time was opposed by 49 percent, with 44 percent supporting it. Seven percent were not sure. Republicans supported daylight time 47 percent to 45 percent, while Democrats opposed it 53 percent to 41 percent. Of independents, 51 percent opposed it while 43 percent supported it.\n— 43 percent said state government should do something about the cost of gasoline, while 36 percent disagreed and 21 percent were not sure.