ALAN CHOATE - Daily Herald | Posted: Monday, February 13, 2006 11:00 pm
Bringing private investment to road building in Utah is a key component in meeting the state's transportation needs, a state Senator said Monday -- and most of the Senate agreed with him.
Legislation by Sen. Sheldon Killpack, R-Syracuse, would allow the state to enter into partnerships with private entities to build toll roads. It passed its first Senate vote 22-5 and faces one more vote before clearing the chamber.
While the concept of a public-private partnership for a toll road fits one project well -- the proposed Mountainview Corridor, an Interstate 15 alternative that would run from Pleasant Grove to Interstate 80 -- Killpack said his bill isn't aimed at anything specific and asked fellow lawmakers to "distinguish policy from the project."
"We simply have to have a way of financing these facilities," he said. "These facilities are not going to build themselves."
Those who objected focused on the policy. Sen. Ed Mayne, D-West Valley City, noted that the state can already build toll roads.
"We have in our tool box that tool, to do toll roads," Mayne said. "This next step is strictly to let private or foreign investors come into the state, build those roads and charge us the tolls.
"The private sector is good for a lot of things, but I don't think regulating toll roads is one of those issues."
Sen. Michael Waddoups, R-West Jordan, also opposed the bill: "To get into a partnership with private enterprise on this is probably a lose-lose situation for the state," he said.
He said issues with the roads could create "a public relations problem" for the state that wouldn't be shared by the private investor. He said he is also worried about state bonds being used for a project overseen by a private entity.
Any toll roads built under the proposed partnership setup would remain state property and would be leased to the private entity.
While opposing senators called for lawmakers to allocate more money for road building, Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, noted that transportation needs far outstrip the state's resources.
"Access to capital -- where do you get the money to build the roadfi" asked Bramble. "When we have gridlock ... toll roads and access to that capital will begin to look pretty attractive."
And Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, said the costs of congestion caused by waiting to build a road -- wasted fuel, wrecks, lost time -- are greater than the costs of construction.
"The very people who are opposing this now, their constituents may be the ones who are most advantaged by this legislation as it goes forward," Stephenson said.
The legislation doesn't specify how much tolls would be, leaving that to the individual agreements that would be forged. If the bill passes the Senate, it continues to the state House of Representatives.
This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A4.