Toll roads go way back.
The ancient Persians, Greeks, and Romans charged for road use. In early America, private companies often built toll roads, collecting fees at gates. It was an early form of public-private partnership, enabling the quickest creation of infrastructure in what was, at the time, wilderness. A “turnpike” was originally a pivoting barrier, aka a pike, that blocked access until the traveler in question paid up. Eventually the term came to refer not just to the guardhouse but to the entire road. Some stretches of asphalt, such as the Pennsylvania Turnpike and the New Jersey Turnpike, still use the word though the pikes are long gone.
Indiana was once so keen on toll roads that it went bankrupt.
Almost as soon as it achieved statehood, Indiana dove into road building. Numerous county turnpikes—some gravel, some little more than sodden logs over swampy ground—were created in response to the aptly-named 1836 Mammoth Internal Improvement Act, a $10 million ($400 million today) statewide road, bridge, and canal program designed to upgrade Indiana’s transport network. The project was so expensive that it drove the state into default in 1841.
As the 19th century waned, so did Indiana’s infatuation with turnpikes.
At one time, Marion County was crisscrossed with over 200 miles of them. But in the 1890s, counties began bringing them under government control. Today, our only pay-to-drive ribbon is the Indiana Toll Road, a 157-mile stretch of I-80 and I-90 bisecting the northern part of the state from Ohio to Illinois that debuted in 1956. It’s a far cry from, say, California, which boasts more than 800 miles of tolled highways, express lanes, and bridges, or Florida, with over 700 miles. Even Illinois, with its suburban Chicago tollway network, manages 300 miles.
Modern toll roads pay for repairs.
That’s the pitch, anyway. Supporters argue that tolls shift the cost of upkeep from all taxpayers to the people actually using the roads. In Indiana, the concept gained new attention with the 2006 Major Moves deal, which leased the Indiana Toll Road to a private operator for $3.8 billion, helping to fund hundreds of road projects.
Indiana does need new ways to finance road infrastructure.
Traditionally, much of our state’s road construction and maintenance costs were paid for by the gas tax and vehicle registration fees. But rising fuel efficiency and the introduction of hybrid and electric vehicles are (along with other factors) shrinking this revenue pool. Meanwhile, construction costs keep expanding. Indiana’s 2024 Next Level Roads report projected a multibillion-dollar annual shortfall for road maintenance and upgrades over the next decade if more cash isn’t brought in.
Toll roads are now a hot issue.
In June 2025, Indiana passed House Bill 1461, which lifted nearly all barriers to tolling existing roadways. Previously, state law prohibited tolling within 75 miles of the Indiana Toll Road and made it difficult to convert current interstates into toll roads. HB 1461 scrapped those restrictions, giving the Indiana Department of Transportation the green light to pursue tolling on I-65, I-70, I-69, and even I-465, pending Federal Highway Administration approval. The law isn’t imposing tolls as some first feared, but it did clear the way for them. “No decisions have been made, but tolling has to be considered to maintain Indiana’s current and future infrastructure,” Natalie Garrett, INDOT strategic communications director, told Indiana Public Media. “We’re exploring all potential options.”
Critics see a tax in waiting.
Toll roads will likely be a hard sell to the public and a nonstarter for some advocacy groups. Already, the Alliance for Toll-Free Interstates and NATSO (a trade group for truck stops and travel plazas) are lobbying against them as trucking firms stand to pay substantially more to move goods on tolled Indiana highways.
Public reaction could kill the plan.
Those who live in the doughnut counties and commute into Marion County have been in the crosshairs of city residents and politicians for years. Since they pay taxes only to their home county, without tolling they contribute nothing toward the maintenance of roads they regularly use. A commuter income tax has been proposed more than once. Unsurprisingly, it’s the pushback from adjacent counties that has kept it at bay. Those who both live and work in Marion County, meanwhile, will surely be extra salty over tolls, since their tax dollars built the roads in the first place. This could spin out of control the way property tax furor sometimes does.
Politicians know tolls will be thorny with voters.
Secretary of State Diego Morales and lieutenant governor Micah Beckwith came out against new tolling. Some say a threat of tolling would all but guarantee a Democratic governor in the next election. “Northwest Indiana residents already shoulder a heavy burden when it comes to tolls and the gas tax, yet they see little return for the money they contribute,” state representative Mike Andrade says.
Even if the state moves aggressively, we have some time.
Fun fact: It’s against the law to slap a toll on an already-existing federal highway, like I-465, unless the Federal Highway Administration approves a state’s request for a waiver. But even if the Indiana statehouse gets the waiver, tolling infrastructure does not spring up overnight. According to a 2017 study by INDOT, under the best conditions, it would take a minimum of four years to construct the physical framework to begin taking tolls and a couple more to fully build out a statewide program. Indeed, that study didn’t foresee completion of the entire system for 12 years, in 2029. So it could be a good long while, if ever, before we need to worry about paying tolls in our day-to-day lives.
