Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) has named the members of a state panel to prioritize transportation projects over the coming decade now that projects paid for by the lease of the Indiana Toll Road are nearly completed.
Pence announced Oct. 10 that he planned to create the panel, which he said would plot the “next generation” of transportation infrastructure in Indiana.
“With the expertise and recommendations of this blue-ribbon panel, Indiana will keep its finger on the pulse of infrastructure innovation and strive to provide businesses and Hoosiers with the most efficient transportation system available,” he said.
Pence appointed Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann and Cathy Langham, president of Langham Logistics in Indianapolis, to be the panel’s co-chairwomen.
“We are going to prioritize a list of projects that really spans roads, air, water and rail, passenger as well as freight,” Langham said of the panel.
“We are trying to focus on projects with statewide impacts, as opposed to projects that just affect one little corner of the state,” she said.
The governor wants the panel to leverage what Indiana already has done in developing its transportation infrastructure, Langham said.
In 2006, the state leased the Indiana Toll Road to private investors to operate for 75 years. It then used an upfront $3.8 billion payment to build roads and bridges, she said.
