Recent fiery truck accidents on Interstate 65 in southern Lake and Jasper counties in the spring resulted in long traffic delays and asphalt repairs, which have resurfaced questions about tolling and expanding I-65.
House Enrolled Act 1461, authored by state Rep. Jim Pressel, R-Rolling Prairie, would allow the state to charge tolls on all Indiana interstate highways, including Interstate 80/94 and I-65.
Specifically, the law allows the Indiana Department of Transportation to submit a request to the Federal Highway Administration for a waiver to toll lanes on interstate highways. If the waiver is granted, the legislature would not have to enact a statute for the Indiana finance authority to take action on tolling.
Indiana uses fuel tax to fund road projects, Braun said at an event in Munster last month, but as vehicles become more fuel efficient drivers have been buying less gas. Braun said he “probably will” ask for federal approval to toll Indiana highways.
“It’s going to have to be considered because otherwise, I don’t think we can maintain our main arteries,” Braun said. “Asking for the ability to do it doesn’t mean you’re going to do it comprehensively. You do it selectively, where the need is the greatest.”
Indiana Department of Transportation spokeswoman Cassandra Bajek said Monday that the department hasn’t received information from the governor’s office or the legislature about beginning to toll roads in Indiana.
“That question is still being answered. We’re still waiting to hear what their intent was with that one,” Bajek said.
Expanding I-65 to three lanes, for both northbound and southbound traffic, “is always a topic of conversation” at INDOT, “however we do not currently have a project in place to do so” in Northwest Indiana, Bajek said.
A truck fire in April led to paint cans exploding from the vehicle and halting traffic on I-65 southbound.
A truck driver pulled over near mile-marker 231 on I-65 southbound around 1 p.m. April 21. The driver noticed the brakes on one side of the tractor were glowing red and started on fire, according to an Indiana State Police news release.
The driver ran to get a fire extinguisher from the cab, but when she returned the fire had spread to the trailer, which was filled with paint cans, according to the release.
The paint cans “ignited and caused an intense fire that quickly spread to the adjacent trees and even caught the asphalt roadway surface on fire,” according to the release.
As crews worked to put out the fire, there was a moment when north and southbound lanes were closed because of the smoke. When the scene was cleared, a large section of asphalt had to be replaced, according to the release.
The highway was closed for approximately 16 hours, Bajek said.
A semi-truck crash in May led to a fire, closed I-65 near Lowell for hours and needed asphalt repair.
A UPS truck crashed while headed northbound on I-65 near mile-marker 238.8 May 17 after exiting a construction zone lane restriction. The truck “experienced a sudden tire failure on one of the steer tires” which resulted in the driver losing control of the truck, according to an Indiana State Police news release.
The truck and trailer overturned, which blocked the entire roadway, and caught fire. The driver was able to get out of the truck but was taken to the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, according to the release.
The asphalt was damaged and deemed unsafe for traffic, according to the release, so it had to be replaced and refilled. The road was closed for approximately 10 hours, Bajek said.
As a result, beginning in June, the Lake County Sheriff’s Department Traffic Unit began enforcing operations targeting overweight vehicles that are damaging roadways and impacting driver safety along the state line in southwest Lake County, according to a Lake County Sheriff’s Department news release.
The department will send out more than 60 warning notices to companies and drivers of vehicles in violation of weight limits. Drivers will receive tickets if they continue to ignore weight restrictions on county roadways, according to the sheriff’s release.
In Lake County, there is a 15-ton limit on 197th, 185th and 151st from U.S. 41 west to State Line Road, according to the sheriff’s release.
“We are taking this proactive approach to help reduce the kind of heavy traffic on weight restricted roads that causes significant wear and tear on the roads,” Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez said in the release. “The accelerated degradation of the roads leads to increased maintenance costs for taxpayers.”
akukulka@post-trib.com
