Molnau says Wakota Bridge delay was in taxpayers' interest

Last update: December 10, 2007 - 11:29 PM

State Transportation Commissioner Carol Molnau on Monday defended her department's decision to seek new bids for the Wakota Bridge project and disputed last month's findings of the House Commerce and Labor Committee.

The bridge, which carries Interstate 494 across the Mississippi River, was originally slated to have two new spans in use by November of this year. But design problems delayed the opening of the westbound span, and work on the eastbound span, which has not yet started, is now scheduled to be completed in 2010.

In a 14-page letter dated Monday, Molnau said that Lunda Construction initially proposed to build the eastbound span for $24.5 million and that Lunda's revised estimates of around $60 million were not in the best interests of taxpayers.

After many rounds of mediation and counteroffers, Molnau said, MnDOT terminated Lunda's contract for the eastbound span a year ago and is planning to seek new bids late next month. The legislative report described the nearly 14-month lag as an "inexplicable delay," but Molnau said the time was needed to update the bid.

Molnau also took issue with the report's claim that "MnDOT selected and approved a bridge design that has failed half the time." She said that the problems with the span were the result of a design error, not the type of structure selected, and listed numerous successful similar bridges around the country.

JIM FOTI

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