Lawmakers leave turnpike in a ditch

RALEIGH -- The legislature's failure to provide a $20 million-a-year stake in a Wake County toll road is forcing the N.C. Turnpike Authority to consider a public-private partnership for this and four other pay-to-drive projects around the state.

In the absence of state seed money, a deal with private investors is the only alternative left to turnpike officials anxious to keep their first project on track -- the Triangle Expressway, an $850 million toll road through western and southern Wake.

Without it, they'll miss a 2010 deadline for opening the first phase of the 18.9-mile turnpike, David Joyner, the authority's executive director, said Friday. A public-private partnership would also help avoid rapidly escalating construction and land costs and stricter federal environmental rules that could delay the project up to two years.

"We don't have a choice," Joyner said.

Although details of how a public-private partnership would work are sketchy, Joyner and other turnpike officials envision striking a deal with private investors while treating the road like any other regulated public service. Serving a role similar to that of the N.C. Utilities Commission, the turnpike authority would negotiate a return-on-investment figure with investors, set the toll rate and keep state control over turnpike maintenance, Joyner said.

"What's the difference between roads and electricity, gas and sewage?" asked Joyner, who noted that the turnpike authority already has the statutory power to strike a public-private partnership. "We want total transparency. We want the public to feel the turnpike authority and the state is in control of this project and not the investor."

Foreign investment

Joyner said foreign institutional investors are the only outfits with deep enough pockets to invest in big highway projects. This approach, common for highway construction in Europe and China and introduced in Illinois, Indiana and Texas with mixed results, is already being aimed at a smaller turnpike authority project -- the Mid-Currituck Bridge. The proposed toll bridge would span Currituck Sound, connecting the Outer Banks town of Corolla with the mainland.

But a partnership became the prime money option for the Triangle Expressway after the legislature ended its session late Thursday night without providing seed money to allow the turnpike authority to float construction bonds for the project.

In the waning hours of the session, the House passed a bill that would have provided $20 million from the general fund, but that measure was politically unpopular with the Senate, which didn't consider it before adjourning. That kills chances for state seed money until the legislature reconvenes for a "short session" in May.

"We sent them something we could live with, but they apparently couldn't. ... The Senate fumbled the ball," said Rep. Nelson Cole, a Reidsville Democrat and chairman of the House appropriations subcommittee on transportation.

The House bill also would have been unpalatable to bond underwriters who prefer a dedicated source of revenue that can't be undone by future legislatures. A Senate bill passed this week would have met this preference by increasing vehicle registration fees by $8, but House Democrats balked at the measure in three caucus meetings.

"We need to get that first project built -- it will be a guinea pig to see if the concept works," said Sen. David Hoyle, co-chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and the prime sponsor of the bill that would have provided money for the Wake toll road.

Legislators said the collapse of support for the Wake turnpike underscores the dire straits of transportation in North Carolina, which they say needs $65 billion in new roads and maintenance work.