Indiana lawmakers seek road-funding changes, hope to avoid fiscal cliff

Indiana 's transportation infrastructure funding shortfall creeps closer.

Motor fuel taxation yields eight of every 10 state dollars that fund roads and bridges.

As Hoosiers upgrade to more fuel-efficient vehicles, there’ll be less money to work with.

Inflation, federal fuel-efficiency standards and registration fee setup are eroding INDOT ’s income.

Lawmakers have placed another kind of use fee firmly in the governor's hands.

Indiana 's single dedicated bridge-funding mechanism further left counties facing a gap of about $500 million annually .

Purdue University’s Local Technical Assistance Program estimated an annual funding gap of nearly $500 m per year in construction costs just to keep road conditions as-is.

The gap grew to $1.2 billion annually to improve conditions, and $19 billion to eliminate “poor” roads.

“I’m hopeful that we get in front of this this session, to identify what really are good options on the local side and the state side,” Pressel said. “I know we’re going to start down that path. I don’t have a good sense of where we end up yet.” This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press : Indiana lawmakers seek road-funding changes, hope to avoid fiscal cliff.