5.5. SR 03-24-2003 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Section 5: Recommendations The road and bridge infrastructure needs among Minnesota cities are as varied as the cities themselves. The 854 cities in Minnesota range in population from less than 100 to nearly 400,000, in size from a few acres to thousands of acres, from core cities to suburban cities to rural communities, from fully developed cities to rapidly expanding cities, from cities whose population more than doubled in the last decade to cities who continue to lose population, and from cities whose citizens are relatively satisfied with the "status quo" to cities whose citizens want "state of the art" services. Depending on its particular set of circumstances, a city may simply need to maintain its existing street system; it may simply need to upgrade a few rudimentary trails; or to convert them into a street system meeting current standards which includes multiple lanes, sophisticated traffic control systems, sidewalks, trails and other enhancements. Some rapidly developing cities have difficulty in funding the streets needed to serve new subdivisions, while others struggle to find a way to pay for development of their collector and arterial street system. Because of these many variables, various funding mechanisms may serve well for some cities while other cities are best served by a different set of funding mechanisms. Accordingly, a major goal of this study and report is to define the existing "tools" which are available to cities to provide funding for their street systems, to suggest ways in which those existing "tools" can be improved, and to suggest new "tools" which could be developed, so as to provide all cities with a more complete "toolbox" containing those tools which they can chose to use selectively in developing a funding system appropriate to their needs. Finding creative solutions to address the road and bridge infrastructure demands on Minnesota cities is especially critical given the states current fiscal condition. It is likely that aid to local governments that have supported - in part - transportation infrastructure in the past will not be a big part of the solution in the immediate future. Instead, policy makers should consider policy options that enhance accountability at the local level, and empower local policy makers to do what they feel is necessary to protect the capital asset that is their local road and bridge infrastructure. This report recommends the following seven solutions that should be adopted by state lawmakers. The emphasis on the recommendations presented here is on solutions that do not necessarily require any additional state funding. (Only recommendations itl and ii7 necessarily demand an increased commitment of state resources. All the others are intended to expand the options available to local government without exacerbating the state's fiscal shortfall.) Recommendations are not presented in order of priority, but rather it is hoped that consideration would be given to all of the recommendations. 39