Free Republic

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Northern Indiana lawmakers are calling into question Gov. Eric Holcomb’s decision against imposing new tolls on the state’s interstate highways, while allowing the Indiana Toll Road’s private operator to significantly boost rates for large trucks using that highway. Democratic Sen. Karen Tallian of Portage tells the South Bend Tribune that the situation is unfair because only the communities in northern Indiana along the Toll Road will have the burden of higher tolls, while all parts of the state will benefit from the toll money. The Republican governor announced in September that the operator of the Toll...

LAPORTE — Law enforcement in LaPorte County is preparing for the possibility of an already-congested and dangerous U.S. 20 being overrun with more semi-trucks as drivers avoid the 35 percent cost increase of traveling the Indiana Toll Road. Much of that stretch of highway being down to one lane in each direction for resurfacing adds to the concerns. LaPorte County Sheriff John Boyd said he’s reached out to Indiana State Police to help patrol U.S. 20 if an increase in truck traffic becomes too much for his staff to handle alone. “We’re going to prepare for it,” Boyd said. “We’re...

Indiana is known for its targeting of truckers relative to the behavioral aspects of on-highway safety — no state devotes a larger share of its focus to ticketing and issuing warnings to drivers for moving-type violations. When officials in the northern part of the state in late June announced a weeklong “Operation Truck Stop” three-county enforcement effort during the July 4 holiday week along U.S. 20, a common Indiana Toll Road alternate, in late June, regular readers could have been forgiven for seeing little news there. As Overdrive‘s reports on the state made clear in the last year, such efforts...