Private money may aid toll road

Turnpike Authority looks to bridge gap

RALEIGH -- Now that the General Assembly has balked at plugging the gap, the state Turnpike Authority will consider borrowing money from a private lender to cover an expected shortfall in toll revenues for the planned Triangle Expressway.

"It's not much more than doing a second mortgage," David W. Joyner, the turnpike agency's executive director, said Wednesday.

Local government and business groups across the state are urging legislative leaders and Gov. Mike Easley to convene a special session of the General Assembly this fall to come up with new money for state road improvements.

If legislators do return to Raleigh, they are expected to consider making annual payments to cover the expected gaps between toll collections and project costs for a handful of planned toll roads.

House and Senate leaders supported different ways of paying for turnpike revenue gaps, but the legislature adjourned this summer without taking action.

The turnpike board urged the legislature Wednesday to approve gap funding for its toll projects. Although it endorsed public funding, the board also agreed to explore private funding options for the Triangle toll project only.

Joyner said the 18.9-mile, $850 million Triangle Expressway through Research Triangle Park and western Wake County could start construction on schedule next year, opening for traffic by 2011, if public or private gap money is assured in the next several months.

He said the turnpike agency will not consider a partnership with a private company and will not lease or give control of the Triangle Expressway to a private company. Some lenders have indicated interest in discussing terms that would keep the turnpike under full public control, he said.

The turnpike board will evaluate its options for public and private money for the Triangle project at its November meeting.