NEWS

Lawmakers threaten investigation of broken roads

John Tuohy and Tony Cook
john.tuohy@indystar.com
  • Lawmakers say outside expert might be needed to resolve $71M conflict between contractors and INDOT
  • Gov. Mike Pence promises to get to the bottom of crumbling road problem
  • Democrats seek to capitalize on latest infrastructure debacle

Two top Republican lawmakers are threatening an independent investigation of asphalt mixes that could be causing state roads to break apart easily.

They’re also questioning whether the Indiana Department of Transportation might be partially responsible in the brewing conflict between the agency and the private contractors it hires to build roads.

Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso said an outside investigation might be the only way to get answers about how the state bought $71 million in asphalt that could be defective.

“If we can’t get to a conclusion, we can use the bully pulpit,” said Soliday, chairman of the House Roads and Transportation Committee. “There are only two paths out. You can get an independent third party to take a look at it and say here’s the right thing to do, or you let a judge decide it. I’m not real fond of that one.

“If they can’t agree, then we may have to referee,” Soliday said of a possible legislative inquiry.

The Indianapolis Star reported Sunday that INDOT was investigating 188 roads that might have been paved with asphalt that crumbles and cracks years earlier than it should. INDOT suspects the blacktop might have been mixed with too little binder, a sticky petroleum goo that keeps the rocks in asphalt together.

The agency said it is still conducting tests and hasn’t reached any definitive conclusions. But some local highway departments have already been warned that the life spans of their recently paved roads could be 30 percent shorter than usual. INDOT said it would demand refunds from primary contractors if they didn’t use enough binder.

Sen. Carlin Yoder, R-Middlebury, said an investigator “without ties to INDOT or the contractors and with some expertise in chemistry” would be appropriate.

“Newly paved roads shouldn’t be cracking up,” said Yoder, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Transportation Committee. “This could be costing the state a lot of money for years to come, and we need to find out who is accountable.”

Gov. Mike Pence said in a statement Tuesday that INDOT has been investigating the asphalt used on state road projects since potential problems with the mixture were discovered in 2013.

“Hoosiers may be assured that our administration will continue to work with federal highway officials to make sure that taxpayers get what they paid for in road improvements and that those responsible for any deficiencies are held strictly accountable,” Pence said. “Hoosier motorists and taxpayers deserve nothing less.”

But Democratic Party officials wasted little time in blaming Pence, and Democratic gubernatorial candidate John Gregg called for a probe of the administration.

“Governor Pence’s administration failed to stop this waste — and we deserve to know how and why,” Gregg said in an email appeal to voters, which included an online petition for an investigation. “It’s time for an independent investigation into how $71 million in taxpayer money was wasted on Gov. Pence’s watch.”

Democrats said INDOT was deflecting blame to the private companies.

“We’ve seen what happens when Governor Pence and Statehouse Republicans are late to the game to fix Indiana’s roads and bridges, and now they throw the blame on others after they approve an asphalt mixture that only temporarily fixes the long-term problem with our state’s crumbling infrastructure,” John Zody, chairman of the Indiana Democratic Party, said in a news release.

Democrats have been pounding transportation as a campaign issue.

Earlier this month, they criticized Pence because of the closing of I-65 in Tippecanoe County after a bridge broke down over Wildcat Creek. Earlier this summer, they highlighted the closing of Ind. 156 in Switzerland County after flooding caused the road to start sliding toward the Ohio River.

While INDOT was squarely pointing the finger at primary contractors and asphalt makers, the companies that do the most business with the state have not responded to Star inquiries for comments.

The Indiana Construction Association, which represents contractors, also has not responded.

Soliday said the administration owes it to the taxpayers to get to the bottom of the problem — especially given that the state needs an additional $1 billion a year just to maintain its current infrastructure.

“If people don’t have confidence that money we spend on road funding is being spent well, then they won’t support additional funding, and I don’t blame them,” he said. “You keep digging to find out which it is. We are going to need a clear explanation for the public to move forward.”

INDOT at first examined more than 800 roads for faulty asphalt but cleared the majority of them. It said 44 primary contractors were involved in the remaining 188 projects being examined. It is unknown how many of the state’s 34 certified hot mix asphalt makers provided the blacktop mix.

Soliday said he was not ready to exonerate INDOT, given the large number of contractors involved.

“That sounds like a heck of a lot of people that set out to do wrong,” he said. “Something is missing from the picture is what I’m saying.”

Yoder said “the contractors and INDOT are pointing fingers at each other, and we need to find out who is to blame.”

Call Star reporter John Tuohy at (317) 444-6418. Follow him on Twitter: @john_tuohy.