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<br />~ State feels bumps in the budget for roads <br />starTribune..com I MINNEAPOLIS -ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA <br /> <br />Page 1 of4 <br /> <br />Welcome I Log in , Member Center <br /> <br />Home News,",," Sports"," Lifestyle...,..- Entertainment...,..- Opinion...,..- Cars",,' Homesv Jobsv Shopping v CustomerServicev <br /> <br />ROADMONEY <br /> <br />-_.-- -~~--._~ ---'~"._-,+~._-,--- <br /> <br />Home I Local <br /> <br /> <br />I GO I Help <br /> <br />State feels bumps in the budget for <br />roads <br /> <br />In the face of a $300 million shortfall for metro projects, some <br />critics argue for a permanent way to fund construction. <br /> <br />Laurie Blake, Star Tribune l~l Printer 1r81 E-mail this <br />Last update: February 20, 2006 _ 12:03 --.' friendly i_,_. story <br />AM <br /> <br />One thing came up short while <br />the state was delivering on Gov. <br />Tim Pawlenty's 2003 promises <br />to speed up road projects: <br />money. <br /> <br />After underestimating the cost~. <br />of highway building and <br />overestimating federal funding, <br />the Minnesota Department of <br />Transportation this year found <br />itself $300 million short of what <br />it needed to complete the next <br />three year,s of metro road <br />projects. <br /> <br />Related Content <br /> <br />Local <br />Mayor wants prosecutor to be <br />prosecuted <br />Red Lake chairman denies <br />allegations he blocked drug <br />probe <br />Parents, teachers want to keep <br />North Star <br />Disabled woman battered, <br />raped during 19-hour ordeal <br />Somali public TV show debuts <br />in Owatonna <br /> <br />To keep the Crosstown Hwy. 62-Interstate Hwy. 35W reconstruction <br />on schedule to start this spring, the agency has poached $50 million <br />intended by Congress for local road, bike, transit and walking <br />projects in the metro area. And it has gobbled the entire $100 <br />million increase in federal highway money to pay for cost overruns <br />of metro area projects, leaving none for outstate roads. <br /> <br />Now as the governor goes to bat for an ambitious plan to borrow <br />$2.5 billion for roads over the next 10 years, transportation <br />advocates and DFLers say MnDOT's budget hole shows the folly of <br />relying on borrowed money and Congress for the state's pressing <br />transportation needs. <br /> <br />"It's now clear that Pawlenty oversold what he could do because <br />federal funds he counted on didn't come through," said Margaret <br />Donahoe, legislative director for the Minnesota Transportation <br />