Lawmakers urged to spend more on road funding
By Jim Shella Published: March 17, 2015
“If you’re driving in an electric car, you don’t pay a road use tax,” said Dennis Faulkenberg of the U.S. 31 Coalition, “and we think that regardless of the type of fuel you use, you ought to pay to use our roads in Indiana.”
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"Even Faster on U.S. 31: Businesses want more upgrades on highway to Indy."
South Bend Tribune, January 22, 2015
"We love the three parts, don't get me wrong," said Dennis Falkenberg, executive director of the U.S. 31 Coalition. "One of the concerns is that after you come off one of those freeway segments onto an older segment, people are still driving as if they're on a freeway, and maybe a tractor pulls out from one of the farm fields."
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Raise gas tax, Chamber says: Says more money needed for roads; legislators averse
Niki Kelly The Journal Gazette November 25, 2014
Dennis Faulkenberg, president and chief executive officer of Appian Inc. – a transportation consulting and government affairs firm – said indexing is imperative to stop the bleeding. He works with the Build Indiana Council, a coalition that represents the transportation construction industry. Indiana has lost 19 percent of the gas tax’s worth because of inflation since 2003, according to Faulkenberg.
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Study will seek answers to transportation funding dilemma
March 21, 2014 | By Jacob Rund, TheStatehouseFile.com
Dennis Faulkenberg, a transportation consultant and noted expert, refers to the gas tax as “bread and butter funding” and pointed to the use of the funds for non-highway expenditures as a partial reason for the state’s dilemma. Faulkenberg also said he hopes the study will find new ways of addressing the funding situation.
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Indiana Legislators Hear Pleas for Increased Funding for Transportation Budget, Evansville Courier Press, January 30, 2013
“Let’s collect the money that folks are paying as user fees and use it for roads first,” said Dennis Faulkenberg, the president of APPIAN, an Indianapolis transportation consulting firm.
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Pence Budget: Good Signs and Bad, Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, January 27, 2013.
"Dennis Faulkenberg, president of APPIAN, an Indianapolis transportation consulting fund, supports user-based fees for road maintenance and construction...."
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State transportation officials say they need $200 million more; locals say $800 million, Evansville Courier Press 1/19/13
Dennis Faulkenberg, the president of the Indianapolis transportation consulting firm APPIAN, said such a move would work well because "sales tax is inflation-proof." "Maybe it should be phased in, but we believe that's a road use tax that ought to go to roads in Indiana," he said. "We think that those who use the roads ought to pay for the roads."
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State scrubs contractor-financing plan for US 31, Indianapolis Business Journal, July 2-8, 2012
Given the complexity and costs of putting such deals together, its likely bigger projects will be most suitable under this approach, says Dennis Faulkenberg, a principal of Indianapolis transportation consulting firm, APPIAN.
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When The Buck Stops
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, May 13, 2012
"I'm concerned with that kind of drop and figuring out what's next," said Dennis Faulkenberg, president of APPIAN – a respected transportation consulting firm based in Indianapolis. "We don't have any other toll roads to lease so there are only certain things we can do.
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Coalition planners look to remaining U.S. 31 areas: State on pace to finish Kokomo corridor in 2013
Kokomo Tribune
April 10, 2012
U.S. 31 will be a freeway around Kokomo and through southern St. Joseph County and Carmel by the end of 2015. With the completion date looming, the project’s backers are already turning their efforts toward areas as yet untouched by construction. “The problem is, what’s going to happen in between?” U.S. 31 Coalition executive director Dennis Faulkenberg told a group gathered at a Kokomo business breakfast Tuesday. “It’s wonderful to do the hard parts, but the parts in between — in Tipton, Miami, Fulton and Marshall counties — those parts have to be done to make U.S. 31 a true freeway.”
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WFIU, Noon Edition
September 30, 2011
"Following the Sherman Minton Bridge closure, several southern Indiana communities are concerned about infrastructure problems. What is the state of Indiana’s transportation infrastructure and how concerned should we be in light of these recent developments?" Listen to Dennis Faulkenberg on WFIU's Noon Edition discussing the state of Indiana's transportation.
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Are hundreds of Indiana's key bridges wearing out?
Closed Ohio River span just one of hundreds in state that have problems, feds say
Sep. 20, 2011 | Written by John Russell
The Sherman Minton Bridge is one of the largest and busiest spans in the state."It's a unique piece of infrastructure in Indiana," said Dennis Faulkenberg, a former deputy commissioner and chief financial officer at INDOT who is president of Appian, a transportation lobbying firm in Indianapolis. "You don't have funding generally available for such a project."He said the state's highway and bridge repair funds are generally committed to other projects for the next two years, and a big emergency project could require some re-prioritization of projects.
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Stuck in Neutral: Lack of Transportation Bill Raises Uncertainty
Indiana Chamber BizVoice
May/June 2011
"Federal transportation funding makes up 40% of our whole transportation budget. The impact is incredible; without it we would be in crisis mode," explains Dennis Faulkenberg.
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Express Route
by Kathleen McLaughlin, Indianapolis Business Journal
The city’s application is among $53 billion in requests that flooded the U.S. Department of Transportation before the September deadline to apply for $1.8 billion in stimulus funds, said Dennis Faulkenberg, a local transportation-planning consultant.
Faulkenberg said such incomplete projects aren’t roads to nowhere. “To the folks who live out there, they do go somewhere. There are huge pockets of population and commerce out in the suburban communities that have good connection to the center … but you can’t get from one to the other.”
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Watch Dennis Faulkenberg on WFYI's "Indiana Lawmakers."
March 5, 2010
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Portion of US 31 Job Ahead of Schedule
January 13, 2010
Dennis E. Faulkenberg, Executive Director of the U.S. 31 Coalition, said accelerating the schedule is an important move. He said the Indianapolis and South Bend metropolitan areas are two of the largest economic markets in the state, and the highway between them is a major truck-shipping corridor.
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Conexus Putting Together Logistics Blueprint
Inside Indiana Business
September 6, 2009
The state's advanced manufacturing and logistics initiative is preparing a statewide strategic plan for the future of Indiana's transportation and logistic infrastructure. The study is concentrating on four areas including, infrastructure, work force development, public policy and public awareness. Dennis Faulkenberg, president and chief executive officer of the government affairs and transportation firm APPIAN, says the plan should prepare Indiana for the evolution of national transportation and increase the opportunity for federal funding.
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New US 31 Project Continues to Move Ahead, Despite Economic Concerns
November 20, 2008
At tonight’s chamber meeting, officials with the U.S. 31 coalition tried to calm those fears, and update folks on the progress. While most dirt moving won’t start until the spring of 2009, earth is being moved in rural Lakeville. “It’s about a mile off 31, so it’s not where most people see it where they drive. They will begin driving pilings in the next month to bridge work along the way,” says Dennis Faulkenberg, Executive Director of the U.S. 31 Coalition.
Despite the progress, Faulkenberg says project supporters must stay vigilant because there’s still a long road ahead, with tough economic challenges.
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Roads Remain Vital to Transportation
by Dennis Faulkenberg, Indianapolis Star
But as noted in the editorial, gas tax revenues, the source of such road maintenance and improvements, are declining. As mentioned earlier, the federal highway Trust Fund is facing a serious shortfall in this next fiscal year that begins in October. Because of less driving, Indiana could see $270 million less of federal highway funding, affecting both the state and local road programs.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – October 24, 2007
CONTACT: Dennis Faulkenberg (317) 431-7679
Laurie Maudlin (317) 440-7721
Dennis Faulkenberg and Laurie Maudlin announce the formation of APPIAN, Inc., a governmental relations firm devoted exclusively to the advancement of transportation in Indiana.
Just as in 312 BC, when the Romans constructed the Appian Way as a major economic and military highway, transportation continues to play a vital role today. As a testament to the vitality of roads, parts of the Appian Way are still in existence.
With that in mind, Dennis and Laurie have combined their forty years in infrastructure finance and policy to assist clients in completing the transportation projects so critical to economic development and safety. APPIAN advises clients in securing transportation dollars, and using them to complete projects in the timeliest manner possible.
It is not uncommon for state and local projects to take up to twenty years or more to become a reality, whether because of a lack of funding or procedural hurdles. Dennis and Laurie have found that they most thoroughly know the opportunities and obstacles involved in completing necessary transportation projects.
With their experience working with state and federal agencies, as well as Congress and the Indiana General Assembly, they have found how best to navigate the transportation world.
APPIAN works with clients to identify, and procure, the innovative ways to make infrastructure projects a reality.
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