RDA SAYS TOLL ROAD LEASE PAYING OFF: A potential lakefront redevelopment project in Gary worth $28 million was one of several economic fruits touted by the chairman of the Regional Development Authority on Monday (Post-Tribune). Leigh Morris, who also serves as director of the Indiana Toll Road, told Gary Chamber of Commerce members that two major decisions by Gov. Mitch Daniels are now paying off. Those decisions: Forming the RDA and leasing the Indiana Toll Road. He put an emphasis on “lease.” “It was not sold,” Morris said. “There are no Spanish flags or Australian flags flying anywhere on the Toll Road. It still belongs to us.” The new operators of the Toll Road have invested $300 million in current projects, Morris said, with 95 percent of contracts going to Indiana businesses. Electronic tolling has been implemented, he said, and the state created a $500 million “trust fund for the future” using proceeds from the lease. “All these things probably could not have happened if the state had not leased the toll road,” Morris said. The RDA, meanwhile, is putting an emphasis on developments at the Gary/Chicago International Airport, the Regional Bus Authority, The South Shore Railroad and the Lake Michigan shoreline. This week, Morris said, an RDA working group will consider Gary’s eastern lakefront redevelopment project. If funded, $190,000 in RDA funds will be spent in the first planning phase.
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