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Caution: Slow roads ahead
As the state looks for ways to shore up a funding gap for the new I-35W bridge, dozens of other transportation projects could fall by the wayside.
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Follow local news on TwitterMore than five dozen Minnesota highway and bridge construction projects -- including important Twin Cities arteries -- could be delayed because the high cost of replacing the Interstate 35W bridge has left the state with a serious transportation budget shortfall.
State transportation authorities Tuesday revealed a list from district engineers of projects that could be delayed if the state is unable to close a $145 million funding gap.
Those include work on the St. Croix River Hwy. 36 crossing just south of the existing Stillwater bridge, a bridge replacement over I-35W in Richfield, Hwy. 280 from I-94 to University Avenue in St. Paul, and the Wakota Bridge.
The list was released at a hearing where legislators debated whether to advance state money to cover some costs for replacing the 35W bridge while awaiting federal reimbursement.
While the Pawlenty administration is committed to replacing the bridge, doing so could require juggling state funds, borrowing money or delaying the other projects.
The administration has asked a legislative panel to approve temporary use of state general fund money for bridge expenses. But DFLers questioned the accountability of the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) and said the request ignores a larger, longstanding problem of inadequately funded highway projects. Pawlenty has twice vetoed transportation funding packages because they would have raised the gas tax and other fees.
The panel questioned Transportation Commissioner Carol Molnau and other MnDOT officials for several hours Tuesday but declined to sign off on the request.
The cost of the 62 projects slated for possible delay adds up to nearly the $145 million shortfall that MnDOT faces in 2008. The funding gap is largely the result of the 35W bridge costing $393 million, far more than state officials estimated when the federal government pledged $250 million toward it in August.
More than $100 million of projects on the deferral contingency list are in the Twin Cities, a prospect that rankled Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller, DFL-Minneapolis.
Sen. Steve Murphy, DFL-Red Wing, said the list of potentially delayed projects "fits ... the category of important but not critical."
But Tim Henkel, MnDOT division director, said many of the projects are important. He called the list the "first-blush response" from district engineers when asked by superiors to identify projects they could delay.
Pogemiller asked why the state was coming to the panel for permission to dip into the general fund for the 35W bridge if the state already signed a contract to rebuild it.
"That bridge is going to be built regardless," he said.
Molnau agreed that the 35W bridge would be built no matter what the panel did, but that spending money on it could leave other projects in jeopardy unless the panel freed up more state money.
"I don't have the authority to do both," she said.
That's because the transportation budget is $145 million less than what the agency now expects to spend. To authorize the additional spending, Murphy said, "We have to come through with cash."
Rep. Doug Magnus, R-Slayton, and Sen. Michael Jungbauer, R-East Bethel, urged others on the panel to approve the funding request Tuesday rather than put it off. Magnus complained of "countless hearings" -- three in two weeks -- on the request, adding it's clear more than the $250 million pledged by the federal government will be needed.
pdoyle@startribune.com • 651-222-1210
Pat Doyle • pdoyle@startribune.com
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Current state office holders
Governor: Tim Pawlenty
One of only a few prominent Republicans to win a competitive re-election contest in the Democratic sweep of 2006, Tim Pawlenty is widely seen as politically shrewd and naturally likable.
- Lt. Governor: Carol Molnau
- Secretary of State: Mark Ritchie
- Attorney General: Lori Swanson
- State Auditor: Rebecca Otto
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