Molnau: 'We haven't been standing still'

Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau's hold on her post as state transportation commissioner has become more precarious in the months since the Interstate 35W bridge crashed into the Mississippi River on Aug. 1. Her confirmation by the DFL-controlled Senate in the 2008 legislative session faces strong opposition. But now the Republican former legislator is speaking out, indicating that she won't let go of the job she's held for five years without a fight. She defended her performance in an interview Nov. 14 with the Star Tribune Editorial Board's Scott Gillespie and Lori Sturdevant. Also on hand was Molnau assistant Bob McFarlin. Excerpts from the exchange:

Molnau: We've done some things right. Since the bridge collapsed, if you look at that whole situation, our people on the ground working with Hennepin County and the city of Minneapolis, the way things came together, it was the way it was supposed to work.

In the direct aftermath, getting our system in place so people could get where they needed to go in a reasonable amount of time, and moving forward as quickly as possible with our plan on that, that happened as well.

The NTSB [National Transportation Safety Board] has complimented us on how well our group has worked with them. We've got the bridge up and going, and moving forward to being completed by next Christmas [2008]. Those are all pretty significant accomplishments in a very short timeframe.

You can go to the political side and say this is an opportunity to point and blame. But if you actually look at facts, you have to admit that the folks here at MnDOT are some of the best people you want on your team to deliver what needs to be done.

Based on what you've learned since Aug. 1, how much responsibility do you think this department bears for the bridge's collapse?

Molnau: I'm going to wait for the NTSB report. I don't think it's fair to do any speculation ahead of time.

McFarlin: To speculate, and thus by speculation point fingers at people with professional reputations, is reckless.

What explains the decision not to put reinforcing steel plates on the 35W bridge, after your consulting firm initially recommended that be done?

Molnau: That happens many times. When we get a recommendation, we sometimes go out for peer review and get some other thoughts, and then we look at the whole process, and we all sit down together and come to a conclusion about what would be the best possible result. That's exactly what happened in this case.

The gusset plates you've heard about from the NTSB are not actually the plates we were thinking about replacing on the bridge.

Who makes decisions like this? Are there civil engineers at the table?

Molnau: Of course. I'm not the one making the decision. These are the engineers, the bridge people. I assume four, five, six of our guys would meet with URS (the consultant) and some independent people as well.

McFarlin: The ultimate decision rests with Dan Dorgan. He's the state bridge engineer. But the whole work with URS is a collaborative effort. Discussions like these are going on here every day.

Legislators are suggesting that departmental mismanagement is behind the lengthy delay on the Wakota Bridge project. Are they right?

Molnau: I inherited that one when I came on board. It's a $250 million project, with 28 bridges. A lot of the ramps are bridges. We had a design error on our first major crossing that we found when the bridge was 30 to 40 percent completed. That meant that our company, Lunda, had to retrofit a bridge that was partially completed. We had to negotiate that, because obviously it wasn't in the original contract.

The second crossing, in the opposite direction, was still left. That's a whole new bridge design. We tried to negotiate for a year and a half and could not come to agreement.

You would have been here asking questions much earlier if I had accepted what they offered, which was a 180 percent increase. I felt, from a taxpayer perspective, since the cost differential was so great, other contractors would have said, "Why wasn't that put out for rebid?" So, with no agreement with the original contractor, we will have to relet that bid.

The Crosstown Hwy. 62 project has also seen a delay, and you've been faulted for asking contractors to front the start-up money for the project themselves. In retrospect, was that a good idea?

Molnau: We had a two-year delay in federal reauthorization that cost us $70 million one year and $80 million the next, which we didn't recover.

We tried a public-private partnership to try to move ahead (on Hwy. 62), but it wasn't received very well. Our thought was, at the end of four years, the contractor would be made whole. We thought it was worth trying.

McFarlin: This is a concept that's being successfully picked up and utilized in other states. We're using a similar concept in the construction of Hwy. 212. In Missouri, their bridge program is financed this way. There was some idea that the Crosstown thing was a wacky, strange desperate idea by the state. In reality, the whole transportation financing area around the country is changing dramatically, with more public-private partnerships and leveraged money.

Given those problems, why have you been so unwilling to call for a gas tax increase?

Molnau: We haven't been standing still. We've moved projects ahead that have been talked about for 50 years. We've done more in the past five years for the infrastructure of this state than they did in the previous 12 years. That's happened under the governor's direction to be innovative, to do what you can with the resources you have.

The fact is, the gas tax is not going to be able to keep up with the needs, the way it has in the past. With hybrid cars and other utilization, it's not going to be able to fund the system like it used to. That's one of the reasons this administration has looked at mileage-based revenue system. We're in the preliminary stages of doing that.

McFarlin: That whole issue is likely going to have to be resolved at the federal level. No state can implement that on its own. They'll make themselves an island.

With that many years away, what's the remedy in the short term?

Molnau: One of the things is, resources at the federal level should be more concentrated on the infrastructure, not on (congressional) earmarks.

There's nothing in law that says we can only use the gas tax for roads and bridges. We as a state have to look at where our priorities are going to be.

Are you satisfied that you have enough bridge inspectors and other personnel?

Molnau: We have a very solid inspections program. From a national perspective, we have one of the best in the country. We are always looking for ways to improve it.

We've reduced people in some places where things have changed. For example, our survey crews used to be four-man crews. Now, with GPS, one guy can do it. We used to have two guys in snowplow trucks. With the equipment we have today, we can do it with one.

This department was one of the first in the nation to do performance measures. If we're not meeting our performance goals, that's where we'll put more resources the next year.

Do you have enough resources to fulfill your mission?

Molnau: Do I think we could use more resources? Sure. And this administration has had many plans to provide them and will have a plan again next session. The problem is that even the portion of plans on which the Legislature and the governor agree haven't been passed. We could have done a half a loaf instead of no loaf, and we've done no loaf.