Gov. Mark Dayton on Tuesday unveiled his $6 billion plan to fix the state's roads and bridges and improve transit, and bottom line is that it will cost all Minnesotans more to get around.
A fact sheet detailing the "Invest in Roads, Bridges and Transit" plan shows that residents in the metro area who use state roads would pay $24.50 a month - 80 cents a day- while those outstate would pay $15 a month, or 49 cents per day collected through vehicle registration fees. Additionally the gas tax would rise by 16 cents per gallon.
Twin Cities residents, that's the seven-county metro area, also would be hit with a half-cent sales tax increase, with that money directed to expanding transit services and funding Safe Routes to School initiatives.
In return, here is the money would be spent:
- $5.38 billion would be used to rebuild and repave 2,200 miles of pavement on state highways, replacing or repairing 220 bridges, and fund $1.6 billion for "Corridors of Commerce" projects.
- Those are key freight routes that have been identified as important for business expansion, job creation and econdomic development
- $1.58 billion for county highway projects
- $490 million for cities to determine which streets to fix
- $153 million that MnDOT spends to upgrade old state highways in cities and counties
- $133 million for townships to upgrade roads and bridges
- $120 million for transit services outside the Twin Cities metropolitan area
- $2.8 billion for transit services in the seven-county metropolitan area. That would include adding more and frequent service, adding shelters with light and heat and up to 20 more transitways.
- $75 million for Safe Routes to School to support infrastructure to make it easier and safer to walk or bike to schools.
The governor's proposal says his plan would create an estimated 119,000 jobs.
