Harrell, R H

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U T IL IZ A TIO N  OF AD D ITIO N A L HIGHW AY FUNDS PROVIDED BY 1969 LEGISLATURE(Panel Discussion—Part II)Comments by an Indiana State Highway Commission MemberR. H . H arrell Executive Director Indiana State Highway CommissionEVENTS LEADING TO  7- AND 8-CENT GAS TAX INCREASEBackground information and events leading up to the need for added highway money, controls that were written into the law, and roads that were singled out to receive priority for construction are considered first.Soon after Congress approved the Interstate System and its con­struction in the late 1950’s, it was evident that Indiana’s six-cent gas tax would not yield enough revenue to match the interstate 90-10 money and still have funds to construct primary, urban, and secondary roads and to maintain our present system of state highways.The Indiana General Assembly recognized this fact and in 1965 authorized a comprehensive study of the future needs and financing of all public roads and streets in the State of Indiana. A report with recommendations was directed to be presented to the 1967 General Assembly for action.By 1967 the needs study, with recommendations, was complete enough to be presented to the General Assembly, but had not been presented early enough to get public reaction to the recommendations. The lawmakers did not write the recommendations into law at that time but did authorize a continuation of the needs study and specified that public hearings be conducted in all areas of the state.Borrowed Highway Funds Returned to the Highway CommissionFor many years there had been organized public pressure on state government to return funds to the highway account that had been transferred or loaned to the state general fund in earlier years for use on other than highway financing. The 1967 General Assembly187188recognized that the highway needs were great, and did authorize re­turn of $14,389,470 of the borrowed funds to the Indiana State High­way Commission. The bill that provided for the return of the money specified that it be used solely for engineering, land acquisi­tion, and construction, with or without federal participation, on state highways.RETURNED M ONEY SPENT ON W ID EN IN G  BRIDGES AND FOR SURVEYS AND FINAL DESIGN PLANSAfter receiving this $14.4 million, the highway commission, in May of 1967, passed a resolution directing that about $6.9 million of the money be spent to widen narrow bridges on the state system, and $7.5 million be spent for surveys and final design plans on roads recom­mended earlier in the needs study as highways having the greatest need for new construction. These roads have become known as the 157 miles of “killer highways” when referred to by the Press.Roads Improved With Returned MoneyThe commission action spelled out the following roads on which plans were to be developed :US 31 Certain areas between 1-465 and South Bend.SR 37 From old 37 south of Bedford to Indianapolis.US 41 and 63 Certain sections on US 41 and 63 from Vincennes to US 52 northwest of Lafayette.SR 912 Between Michigan Avenue and Indianapolis Blvd.in East Chicago.US 24 Between Peru and Wabash.OVER $26 M ILLIO N  OF NEW  TAX REVENUE SPENT FOR NEW  ROAD AND BRIDGE PROJECTSSenator Kruse has ably explained the action of the 1969 General Assembly in approving the tax increase and I will now report on what has been accomplished by the commission since the increase in revenue was authorized.189Receipts from Special Primary Bonus Fund as of April 1, 1970 Totals 24.3 Million Dollars1969June (for 2 Months) $ 4,659,153.33July —0—August 2,438,139.47September 2,554,139.73October 2,482,488.91November 2,302,689.42December 2,564,113.74Total—$17,000,724.601970January 1,984,101.00February 2,977,103.00March 2,314,310.00Total—$ 7,275,514.00Grand Total—$24,276,238.60Starting in February the monthly payments are increasing for a few months because of the added tax on license plates for certain vehicles. It is a little early for us to be sure but we think the tax will yield about $36.5 million on an annual basis.As Senator Kruse stated, the 1969 legislation specified that the money should be spent on the federal-aid state primary highway system for engineering, land acquisition, and construction and not directly or indirectly for the payment of wages, salaries, or compen­sation of state or commission employees.To this date, bids have been received on 27.2 miles of primary, controlled access, highways, and the bridges in the limits of this mile­age, plus two major bridge replacement projects. The bid price of these contracts totals $26.09 million.So one can see, even at this early date, contracts let are ahead of the money posted to the primary road account.190SECTIONS OF ROADS ON W H IC H  BIDS HAVE BEEN RECEIVEDRoadDateBidBidAmount Miles DescriptionBr. 20 6/24/69 $ 724,444 Bridge over Penn-Central RR, 0.6 mi west of Porter- LaPorte County line.Rd. 30 3/24/70 6,575,046 3.7 Road from C ounty  Road 150 to 0.5 mi. east of W ar­saw.Rd. 37 11/18/69 5,281,988 5.4 From SR 54 to 1.4 mi. south of Lawrence-Monroe Coun­ty line.Rd. 41 3/24/70 3,790,227 5.2 Frim 1.4 mi. north of SR 67 to Emison.Rd. 41 10/21/69 2,406,263 8.6 From 0.2 mi. north of SR 352 to US 52.Br. 67 2/24/70 1,001,592 Bridge over Eel River at north edge of Worthington.Rd. 46 1/20/70 3,087,253 1.25 From 1.2 mi. northwest of Bloomington to present SR 37 1.0 mi. north of Bloom­ington plus bridges.Rd. 37 3,220,963 3.1 In Monroe County on SR 37 between SR 45 and SR 46.$26,090,776 27.2“KILLER HIGHW AYS” T O  RECEIVE A D D ITIO N A L A T T E N T IO NIn the next seven months our goal is to receive bids on an addi­tional 26.3 miles of “killer highways” plus some major bridge con­struction projects.Sections of roads on which bids will be received in the next seven months are:191Road Date of Bids Miles DescriptionRd. 31 4/23/70 4.9 From the Howard-Miami County line to 0.5 mi. south of jet. with SR 218 north of Kokomo. This will close the gap of dual-laneing US 31 from Carmel to 8 mi. north of Peru.Rd. 37 August 8.1 From 1.4 mi. south of Lawrence-Mon- roe County line to 0.1 mi. south of Dillman Rd. at Bloomington.Rd. 37 Abt. Sept. 6.9 From SR 45 to present SR 37 about 3.7 mi. north of bypass.Rd. 41 Abt. June 6.4 From Emison to 1.5 mi. south of Knox* Sullivan County line.Br. 24 Abt. Aug. Bridge 5.6 mi. west of US 31 over the N & W  Railroad west of Peru.Br. 57 October Bridge over White River 4.6 mi. north of SR 356, south of Washington, Indi­ana.26.3PROBLEMS OVERCOME IN A SHORT T IM EI have listed the projects on which we have received bids and also projected the roads on which we hope to advertise for bids in the next seven months.Now I will give you an idea of some of the problems we have had to overcome to get this program in gear as fast as we have. A normal federal-aid financed primary construction project is requiring about two years to clear right-of-way, from the time the right-of-way plans are delivered to the land acquisition department until the right-of-way is cleared to let contracts.Thanks to our capable land acquisition division we have been able to cut this time down to a year on these projects, and in a number of cases to six months.Even though plans were substantially complete on many of these projects we have had to revise geometries, add some bridge separations and in other cases make centerline changes to improve alignments and192cut down costs for land. This has all been done with a minimum of delay.After we have once had a reasonable length of time to acquire right-of-way (and this problem is pretty well behind as, we do not plan on having problems that we cannot overcome in advancing projects for lettings as fast as money is credited to the primary road account.THANKS EX TENDED TO  THOSE W H O  W ORKED T O  G ET EXTRA FUNDSI would like to divert for a moment to say that Indiana is fortunate in having a capable highway commission, under the leadership of Chair­man Steele, in addition to having a loyal, dedicated group of engineers, designers and construction personnel.We, as road and street people, should pay tribute to the many people in the General Assembly, those civic organizations, professors here at Purdue, the entire road construction industry, and many others who had the courage and worked so hard to get the long overdue increase in road funds approved.HIGHW AY COM M ISSION LOOKS TOW ARD RECORD LETTIN G SAs a final note I am happy to report that last year was a banner year for any first year of a new administration and again thanks to the added revenue this year will see the largest single calendar year of road contract lettings in the 50-year history of the Indiana State Highway Commission.

Utilization of Additional Highway Fund Provided by 1969 Legislature: Part II:: Comments by an Indiana State Highway Commission Member

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Utilization of Additional Highway Fund Provided by 1969 Legislature: Part II:: Comments by an Indiana State Highway Commission Member

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