5.1.A. SR 02-21-2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

d ~.f L-I ~ Alliance. The group says an increase in the gas tax would provide more reliable road funding. Sen. Steve Murphy, DFL-Red Wing and chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, said the budget deficit is a symptom of a risky transportation plan. "They were betting on the come, and they lost and now they are scrambling around robbing Peter to pay Paul. " In the governor's defense, Rep. Mary Liz Holberg, R-Lakeville, chairwoman of the House Transportation Finance Committee, said "any time we accelerate projects and get them done it's a good thing." Making road improvements sooner rather than later gives commuters more time to spend with their families and avoids higher future construction prices, Holberg said. In the metro area, MnDOT's budget pothole has local officials shaking their heads at the lack of road funding. Cities and counties are just as strapped for money as MnDOT is, said Dakota County Commissioner Paul Krause, who is a member of the Transportation Advisory Board (TAB) that loaned MnDOT the $50 million. "We need permanent transportation financing," said Krause. MnDOT's use of the $50 million means five local projects designed to ease freeway congestion lost their funding. Among those delayed are the extensions of County Road 5 alongside 1-35W in Bumsville and Lake Drive in Lino Lakes; widening of Hwy. 149 in Eagan; and upgrading Pierce Butler Route between St. Paul and Minneapolis to make it an alternative to crowded Interstate Hwy. 94. MnDOT promised to pay back by 2012 the $50 million that would have gone to these and other projects. Bob McFarlin, assistant to the transportation commissioner, said in a letter to legislators that the governor is delivering on his promise to speed up road construction, unlike other states that have stopped projects due to the delay in federal funds. "Minnesota has done an excellent job managing through this crisis and keeping the highway improvement program largely on schedule," he said. But legislators of both parties are concerned about the cost overruns. "I don't think you ever want to have a shortfall whether it's your personal budget or MnDOT's budget ..." Holberg said. "We rely on professional staff to be more realistic about what the money will buy us." Fast-track projects Promising that "relief is on the way," Pawlenty in 2003 initiated an $800 million bond program that used $400 million in state highway bonds to attract $425 million in federal funding. He promised to start 19 projects years ahead of schedule.