Toll roads partly private?
UDOT may gain permission to shoulder costs with investors
SB80 gives the Utah Department of Transportation permission to join with private groups in a public-private partnership to build toll roads. In an ideal scenario, the legislation would allow a company to pay the state — sometimes billions — for the right to build, operate and collect tolls on a road.
Sponsoring Sen. Sheldon Killpack, R-Syracuse, says his measure could help pay for construction of much-needed roads. Utah is currently facing a $16.5 billion deficit for road projects planned over the next 25 years, according to regional transportation planners.
"Roads stopped falling from heaven a long time ago and we have to find a way to pay for them," said Killpack. "This is nothing more than an enabling tool for UDOT."
But opposition to Killpack's measure is building among a few mayors in western Salt Lake County. If passed, SB80 could put the Mountain View Corridor, a freeway proposed for western Salt Lake and Utah counties, on the fast-track to becoming a toll road. UDOT is now studying how and where to build the road. Tolling, and whether it would work for Mountain View, is included in that study.
"If we don't open the door, it won't happen," he said. "We're not trying to cause problems, but it's a concern."
South Jordan Mayor Kent Money questioned the timing of Killpack's bill.
"It's new and there's a lot of questions that need to be asked as well as answered," he said.
But Killpack maintains his bill is simply another tool for UDOT. And other states have already begun to utilize the private sector to help with rising costs for roads.
The Associated Press reported earlier this month that some $25 billion in private investments are "proposed or committed" toward the operation of new or existing toll roads in the United States. Most recently, Indiana expressed interest in selling a 157-mile state toll road to an outside group. The sale could net up to $3 billion.
Last year, Chicago sold its Skyway toll road for $1.83 billion — becoming the first state in the nation to sell an existing toll road, according to The Associated Press. In October, Texas entered into agreement with a Spanish company to build a 316-mile toll road. And Colorado is now studying whether to have private groups finance roads in the Denver.
You can be the first to comment on this story.