Delaware transportation officials are considering a partnership with private groups to help with roadwork in the state.

However, details about the proposals from the three consortiums that are vying for the work are few because the department isn’t required to make them public.

Secretary of Transportation Nathan Hayward III said the state could sign long-term, sale-lease back agreements with private investors for Interstate 95 and Delaware 1. Hayward said it is the best way to solve a funding crunch that has delayed dozens of road and bridge projects.

State law doesn’t require the information to be made public or to be provided to the full membership of the Legislature. The partnerships can become reality if Hayward and the co-chairmen of the Legislature’s Joint Bond Bill Committee approve them.

A sale-lease back agreement would permit a private group to pay the state a large sum up front for the right to collect toll revenue over a period of time.

Groups would bid for the right to operate a state-owned roadway.

State lawmakers authorized the talks this year without realizing that neither they nor the public would be privy to details of the discussion.

Among the concerns are how the money to add two lanes to Interstate 95, improve the ramps on Delaware 1 and add six E-ZPass lanes to the Newark toll plaza would be spent, how much the Newark toll would be increased and whether the public’s roads would end up being leased or sold outright.

If the state reaches agreement with a consortium for the work it would be the first venture under the Public-Private Partnership Act of 1995. It is intended to help the state finance big road projects. The same law allows the state to act with minimal legislative oversight and public input.