Sep 9, 2006 2 min read

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – A company that dealt with Indiana, the first state to privatize a toll road, is studying a possible privatization deal for a long-delayed, cash-strapped Mon-Fayette Expressway. Sydney-based Macquarie Group is studying whether tolls from a 100-mile Mon-Fayette Expressway linking Pittsburgh and Morgantown, W.Va., would provide a profit once construction is completed, Pennsylvania Turnpike officials have said.

The expressway remains partially built – and about $3 billion short of construction money – more than two decades after it won legislative approval.

Alex Doughty, a Macquarie spokesman, said the banking conglomerate would not comment on pending deals, but is interested in U.S. infrastructure projects.

Key Pennsylvania lawmakers also are interested. House Transportation Committee Chairman Rick Geist, R-Blair, said legislation would be needed to let the state enter into such a public-private partnership, and he will soon introduce a bill that would allow it.

A Rendell administration analysis released last month said the state faces up to a $2.2 billion shortfall in money needed to maintain highways, complete improvements and get mass transit systems out of debt.

Macquarie is already involved in leases to operate toll roads in San Diego, northern Virginia, Chicago, Toronto and other locations.

Macquarie and a Spanish partner finalized a deal in July to take over the Indiana Toll Road, paying $3.85 billion for the rights to operate it and collect tolls for 75 years.

State officials said the deal provided a needed infusion of construction cash, though opponents had misgivings.

Indiana House Democratic Leader Patrick Bauer said that while the state would receive $3.85 billion, the private operators stood to make $133 billion over the life of the deal.

“In 5, maybe 10 years, all that money is gone, and the tolls keep rising and the money keeps flowing into the foreign coffers,” Bauer said.

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Information from: The Patriot-News, http://www.pennlive.com/patriotnews