Public private partnerships have become like crack cocaine for politicians. They're addicted to sticking it to commuters by selling-off our public roads to private toll operators who not only charge motorists outlandish toll rates, 75-80 cents a mile, they get control over surrounding free routes in a government-sanctioned monopoly. Unless voters hold these criminals, err politicians, accountable and fast, there won't be any 'public' infrastructure left to drive on. _____________________________________

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As Indiana Toll Road Funds Wind Down, State Looks to More Transportation P3s

CHICAGO — As Indiana spends down $3.8 billion generated by its 2006 lease of the Indiana Toll Road, the state has a series of new public-private partnerships in the pipeline that underscore its continued reliance on the technique to provide financing for transportation infrastructure projects.

As of this year, all of the remaining cash from the toll road lease to a private consortium — $1.7 billion — is earmarked for ongoing projects, and officials plan to rely on other P3s to help finance transportation projects in the future.

The Hoosier State has three major privatization deals in the works under a P3 program launched by Indiana Department of Transportation for the state’s largest infrastructure projects.

The transactions include the state’s participation in a bi-state effort with Kentucky to build a new $2.4 billion bridge spanning the Ohio River, a planned 47-mile expressway that connects to Illinois, and a major revamp of a highway that runs north of Indianapolis.

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