In his visit with the LSJ Editorial Board, Rick Snyder pointed to Indiana’s Mitch Daniels as a governor worth emulating. And Tim Skubick has reported on Snyder listening to such budget ideas as selling state assets (Mackinac Bridge) to raise money, a la what Indiana sorta did with its toll road.
Having just used the toll road to drive into Chicago on a Friday afternoon, I can say that I wasn’t impressed with the new operators — a private consortium. Construction repairs seem poorly designed and timed. And the road’s toll plazas are, frankly, a mess.
But who cares about my road rage. Let’s talk garage sale budgeting.
In 2006, Indiana decided to back Daniels’ bid to lease the toll road for 75 years for $3.8 billion. Not too shabby.
But what does Michigan have that would pull in such a price, or anywhere near it?
The Indiana toll road is a major avenue to Chicago and sits along a huge east-west national traffic corridor. That’s prime real estate.
The Mackinac Bridge had 3.1 million vehicle crossings for 2010 through September.
The Toll Road appears to be doing about 80,000 vehicles a day, which would work out to 21.8 million for Jan. 1-Sept. 30, if I’m doing my math correctly. So, if Mackinac gets 1/3 of the traffic, would it be worth more than 1/3 the value of the Toll Road? If not, then you are looking at a $1.3 billion price tag for the bridge.
And that wouldn’t even cover the projected budget deficit for one year.
And that assumes a buyer. The consortium that leased the Indiana road has had financial woes and seen some traffic counts slip.
I don’t think a statewide garage sale will be changing the budget dynamic in Lansing anytime soon.
