Major Improvements Coming to The Indiana Toll Road

The Indiana Toll Road was built in the mid-1950s.

The Granger-based Indiana Toll Road Concession Co. has detailed a $200 million overhaul to a 70-mile stretch between Portage and Elkhart. The "80/90 PUSH" project will create hundreds of construction jobs.

It will involve work to interchanges, pavement and bridges, as well as installing "Intelligent Transportation Systems" to enhance safety and information service.

80/90 PUSH stands for Pavement Upgrade for a Superior Highway. Goshen-based Rieth-Riley Construction Co. Inc. has been chosen by ITRCC to handle the two-year project. The state says the work will create hundreds of construction jobs throughout northern Indiana.

Governor Mike Pence, who was part Tuesday’s announcement said "as our economy continues to grow with more Hoosiers working than ever before, I am confident that our roads will continue to serve as the arteries of economic development and help Indiana businesses get goods and products to market. I’m thankful to the Indiana Toll Road Concession Company for its continued work to modernize and upgrade the Indiana Toll Road, and I look forward to its completion as the largest project on the Indiana Toll Road since its initial construction."

The 165-mile road is operated by ITRCC and owned by the state. The entire project is being covered by the ITRCC. CEO Ken Daley calls the project a "critical investment" and says "this is the start of an exciting new phase for the ‘Crossroads of America,’ and the ITRCC has pledged to modernize the Toll Road and rebuild the ITR travel plazas. Together, we have developed a work schedule to fast-track construction and minimize impacts, particularly during high traffic periods."

Last year, the initial phase of a $30 million travel plaza improvement plan got underway. An ITRCC spokeswoman tells Inside INdiana Business the projects will take place simultaneously, with the plaza work in Portage slated to get under way in April. Travel site improvements are scheduled to be complete by August of next year.

You can connect to a fact sheet on the 80/90 PUSH by clicking here.

International firm IFM Investors purchased the right to operate the toll road in 2015 for $5.725 million following ITRCC’s bankruptcy in 2014. With the agreement, IFM inherited the remaining 66 years of the Concession Lease Agreement.