Toll Road lease signed, promptly snared in lawsuits
Source: By Bill Ruthhart, Indianapolis Star (IN), April 13, 2006
As the ink was drying on a $3.8 billion agreement to lease the Indiana Toll Road, two lawsuits were filed Wednesday to block the deal. State Budget Director Charles Schalliol signed the 75-year lease agreement with Macquarie-Cintra, an Australian-Spanish consortium, at 9 a.m. Less than two hours later, lawsuits were filed in St. Joseph and Brown counties. A group of seven citizens and the Indianapolis-based Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana filed the St. Joseph County lawsuit, arguing that Gov. Mitch Daniels' effort to lease the Toll Road to a private firm was unconstitutional.