State Won't Try To Reclaim Indiana Toll Road

Associated Press

Automobiles enter the Indiana Toll Road from Indianapolis Blvd. in Hammond, Ind., on June 3, 2007.
*AP Photo/Joe Raymond*

MUNSTER, Ind. (AP) — A state official says no effort will be made to reclaim the Indiana Toll Road from its private operator that filed for bankruptcy protection last month.

Indiana Public Finance director Kendra York says in a letter that the state didn't want to take over responsibility for running and maintaining the 157-mile road.

The Times of Munster reports York was responding to a request from Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly that the agency try to take the road from Chicago-based ITR Concession Co.

York's letter says the state lost money on the toll road for years before ITR paid $3.8 billion upfront for a 75-year lease in 2006.

The state, however, hadn't increase tolls for 20 years, IRT has more than doubled those rates since 2008 for vehicles not using transponders.

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