Schoenberg Calls for Private Bidding on Illinois Tollway

Asks Legislative Panel to Determine Financial Benefits of Leasing Roadway

EVANSTON, Ill., Jan. 25 -- One of Illinois' leading tollway reform advocates is now seeking to have Illinois cash in on the growing appetite among private investors for acquiring tollways.

State Sen. Jeff Schoenberg (D-Evanston), who first introduced legislation nearly 15 years ago to privatize the Chicago Skyway, now says the time is ripe to actively consider leasing all or part of the 274-mile Illinois Tollway to private investors.

At a press conference at the James R. Thompson Center in Chicago, Schoenberg today announced that he will formally ask the legislature's bipartisan Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (CGFA), of which he is the Senate co-chairman, to initiate a request for proposals for firms to project the anticipated yield of such transactions at the commission's next regularly scheduled meeting on February 1.

"As the result of careful planning, sound financial practices and the groundbreaking 'open road tolling' these past three years, the Illinois Tollway is now more attractive than ever to investors," said Schoenberg, who also chairs a key Senate budget committee. "What was once the poster child for waste and decline in state government today is a highly efficient roadway well-positioned to bring Illinois billions in new resources to address some of its most critical needs."

The 7.8-mile Chicago Skyway was leased in 2004 for $1.83 billion over 99 years to a consortium of Cintra Concessiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte, SA (CIN.MC) of Madrid, Spain, and Macquarie Infrastructure Group (MIC) of Sydney, Australia. Earlier this week, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels announced that the same group successfully outbid three other firms with a winning offer of $3.85 billion over 75 years to take over the 157-mile Indiana Toll Road.

Schoenberg said that the proceeds from any privatization deal should go exclusively toward leveraging the $3 billion in federal transportation funds now awaiting a matching state contribution and reducing the state's unfunded pension liabilities.

"Through this innovative and increasingly common strategy, Illinois will undoubtedly be able to move forward to construct and rebuild roads and bridges and shore up our mass transit and passenger and freight rail needs," Schoenberg said.

He added that the state laws previously passed by the General Assembly to facilitate the Skyway lease agreement and the expansion of I-PASS would need to be amended to apply to any potential Illinois Tollway lease agreement. Schoenberg also said that he will ask Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office to advise lawmakers on the legal issues relating to defeasing the tollway's existing bonds should the state move ahead with any tollway privatization plans.