Indiana Toll Road

Mail remained intact when a U.S. Mail semi rolled over early Monday on the Indiana Toll Road. The only thing that did spill was some fuel from a punctured tank on the truck in the 2:45 a.m. mishap. The fuel has been cleaned up, mail has been transferred to another truck and the damaged semi removed, according to the Indiana State Police-Toll Road Post. However, an approximate 2-mile stretch of the eastbound driving lane near the 88.1 mile marker (Elkhart County Road 1 underpass) will remain closed until mid-afternoon for previously scheduled road repair.

Bridge work along the 157-mile Indiana Toll Road begins again for the road work construction season affecting Elkhart, St. Joseph, LaPorte, Lake and Porter counties. Plans call for traffic disruption to be at a minimum, with at least one lane open in each direction and when work conditions permit, two lanes each way will be opened. Through May 27, affected Toll Road areas include mile posts 5 to 7.5 (near Hammond) and 27.9 (Porter County). From June 1 through Sept. 2, affected areas include mile posts 58.6 (near the LaPorte/St.

GRANGER - The Indiana Toll Road “i-Zoom” brand and colors will be retired in 2012 and will be replaced with the more recognizable E-ZPass logo and purple color scheme. Since 2007, “i-Zoom,” “i-Zoom Girl” and an orange/gray color scheme have been used for  electronic tolling on the Toll Road. With this change, Indiana will join 14 other states in the E-ZPass agency in sharing the E-ZPass name. Beginning immediately and expected to last until October 2012, ITR Concession Co. will remove all i-Zoom signs and banners on the Indiana Toll Road and replace with E-ZPass signage, and i-Zoom and i-Zoom Girl will be removed from all public materials.

With speeds in the 90 miles per hour range, police pursued a driver early Saturday morning for about 20 miles on the Indiana Toll Road. The driver was arrested just before entering LaPorte County, police said. Preliminary information indicated an Indiana State Police officer tried to stop a westbound driver suspected of drunk driving on the Toll Road. The pick-up driver instead sped up and a pursuit began in eastern St. Joseph County. Two St. Joseph County Police officers also joined the pursuit.

SOUTH BEND - The cost of driving on the Indiana Toll Road just went up. Sunday morning, private operator ITR Concession, Inc. increased the tolls for all drivers without an I-Zoom transponder by an average of 3%. Motorists in cars and other two-axle vehicles using I-Zoom will continue to pay the same toll they have since ITR leased the roadway from the state in 2006. That discount ends in 2016. The company's lease agreement with the state allows ITR to raise tolls each July 1. The full toll for cars and other two-axle vehicles running the length of the road went up Sunday to $9.40 from the previous $9.

GRANGER, Ind. (AP) - The company that runs the Indiana Toll Road is temporarily banning some trucks from using the highway because of high winds. Toll Road officials have banned all triple trailers and long double trailers, excluding steel haulers, from using the northern Indiana highway from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. Monday. The National Weather Service issued a wind advisory for northern Indiana until 7 p.m. Monday. The weather service says an intense low pressure system will produce sustained winds of 30 mph with gusts of more than 45 mph. The weather service says the winds might make it difficult to drive high-profile vehicles.

GRANGER - New questions today about the lease of the Indiana Toll Road. A government and public policy professor at William & Mary College claims the state will lose money in the long run. Indiana received $3.8 billion for leasing the Toll Road to a private consortium for 75 years. That money is helping pay for major work on state highways, including the new U.S. 31. But in an article published in Indiana University's "Public Administration Review," John Gilmour says while the state got money up front, Indiana loses money over the length of the lease.

HAMMOND, Ind. (AP) - The cost of vehicles traveling on the Indiana Toll Road for vehicles without an I-Zoom transponder is going up starting Sunday. Private operator ITR Concession Inc. says tolls for all vehicle classes without the devices will go up an average of 3 percent. Motorists in cars and other two-axle vehicles using the I-Zoom will continue to pay the same toll they have since ITR Concession leased the roadway from the state in 2006. That discount ends in 2016. The Times of Munster reports (http://bit.ly/N3ZeYB)

Indiana State Police have identified the man who died in a crash involving two semis as Oleh Pyvovarov, 57, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The semis collided and a major fire ensued just before 5:30 a.m. crash at the 77 mile marker. At 8:40 p.m., Indiana state police said that both lanes were open again. Both lanes were closed after the accident and one lane was reopened at 1:30 p.m., police said. Initial information from Indiana State Police describes the accident happening when a 2008 Freightliner semi slowed either in or near the eastbound driving lane.

If you drive the Indiana Toll Road, you know it's a huge thoroughfare for semis taking products from coast-to-coast.  But could more businesses be developed along the toll road corridor?  A recent economic study from Ball State University says that answer is yes. The study says the toll road is unique for several reasons: it's one of the longest toll roads in the country, and it's anchored by Chicago - the largest city along a toll road.  Researchers also say 1/3 of Indiana's economic activity happens in the northern region of the state, and all the open fields and larger urban areas are very diverse - making the toll road corridor a perfect place for development.  The Tire Rack is already located near the toll road.  Company Vice President Matt Edmonds said his family chose to build there not because of its location close to the busy interstate, but because the site was very developable and it was close to the family.  But over time, the company expanded much more than expected.  It ships across the country on a daily basis.

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY -   A couple of areas in St. Joseph County you may want to avoid because of construction projects that start today. There will be lane restrictions on the bypass between the U.S. 20 exit and the Indiana Toll Road. The Indiana Department of Transportation is expected to start road re-surfacing in that area and bridge repairs on Nimtz Parkway over the bypass. The Nimtz Parkway Bridge will be closed during this time. Construction is expected to wrap up and the bridge is expected to re-open by the end of November.

A construction project that could slow down traffic on the Indiana Toll Road starts on Tuesday. Crews plan to restrict the westbound driving lane under the Bendix Avenue Bridge to one lane, while they make repairs to the north slope wall. This work is expected to last three days. If all goes according to schedule, the restriction will be lifted by 5 p.m. Thursday.

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY - It was a scary start to the Easter weekend for one family traveling on the Indiana Toll Road in St. Joseph County on Friday. The family was heading from Illinois to Ohio for a bowling tournament when their car caught on fire in the eastbound lanes near the 68 milemarker, just west of the U.S. 31 bypass/South Bend Regional Airport exit. "We heard a pop sound, and then we pulled over, and the smoke was coming from up under the hood," explained James Howell, who was driving the car. "We came to the back and saw some oil on the back of the car. " When officers and firefighters arrived just after noon, they tried to extinguish the fire, but it burned down to the vehicle's frame.

It seems once the snow started falling, it hasn't stopped, especially on the north side of the state line. And that's creating headaches on the roadways. WSBT meteorologist Matt Rudkin took a trip to Berrien County on Monday to check out the roads. All was pretty clear Monday night. No major travel headaches on any of the major highways. 56 snow plows were on the Indiana Toll Road over the past several days, battling Mother Nature. In Indiana, 173 trucks have been clearing roads, with crews working overtime to keep up with the additional snow.

GRANGER - The Indiana Toll Road has banned long semitrailers for 24 hours because of high winds. The highway's private operator, the Indiana Toll Road Concession Co., announced the ban would be in effect from 6 p.m. EST Thursday to 6 p.m. EST Friday for all triple-trailers and long double-trailers. The ban covers the entire length of the highway. It does not include low-profile steel haulers. The operator says winds gusting close to 50 mph were forecast to begin Thursday night and continue into Friday as rain changing over to snow It says the snow and high winds will combine to reduce visibility, with near whiteout conditions possible.

HOWE - Traffic heading east on the Indiana Toll Road in LaGrange County came to a screeching halt Sunday morning after a semi rolled over. Indiana State Police say it happened at mile marker 120 near Howe around 8:15 a.m. The eastbound lanes were completely shutdown. Police say the driver of the semi only suffered minor injuries, complaining of pain. He was not taken to the hospital. There's no word what caused the crash.   UPDATE: 10:20 a.m. Both eastbound lanes were still closed.

ELKHART COUNTY - At least 1 person has been seriously hurt after a car and semi collided on the Indiana Toll Road in Elkhart County. It happened at 10:35 a.m. Tuesday at mile marker 98 in the eastbound lanes near the County Road 17 exit. MedFlight was called to helicopter a patient to the hospital, and a landing zone was being set up at the nearby RV Hall of Fame. Diesel fuel spilled from the truck, so traffic is encouraged to avoid that area. WSBT has a crew on the way and will have further updates soon.

GRANGER - New questions today about the lease of the Indiana Toll Road. A government and public policy professor at William & Mary College claims the state will lose money in the long run. Indiana received $3.8 billion for leasing the Toll Road to a private consortium for 75 years. That money is helping pay for major work on state highways, including the new U.S. 31. But in an article published in Indiana University's "Public Administration Review," John Gilmour says while the state got money up front, Indiana loses money over the length of the lease.

LAPORTE COUNTY - More traffic problems on the Indiana Toll Road. Four hours after two semis, including a FedEx rig, were involved in a crash in the eastbound lanes at mile marker 62 (the St. Joseph County/LaPorte County line), 3 tractor-trailer crashed about 8 miles to the west at mile marker 54. One of the trucks was hauling a load of flour, which spilled all over the highway. The second crash happened just before 2:30 p.m. State Police say both lanes were closed for awhile while the flour and debris could be cleaned up. Amber Ketting of the ITR Concession Company told WSBT shortly before 5 p.m. that one eastbound lane had been opened.

A semi accident west of South Bend tied up traffic for awhile Tuesday on the Indiana Toll Road. Around 10:20 a.m., a FedEx semi that was loaded flipped at mile marker 62 in the eastbound lanes. That's about 10 miles west of the South Bend Airport exit. The back of the double trailer was on its side. State Police say debris flew in both the east and west lanes, and the debris flew into a second semi, smashing its windows. Police say the driver of the second semi suffered injuries that turned out to be minor -- just scratches.