Our view: Fix roads, bridges before raising truck weights

Almost everyone agrees that Minnesota's roads and bridges are in disrepair, making transportation funding the top priority of nearly every member of the Minnesota Legislature. That makes the bills that would raise the weight limit on freight-hauling trucks Minnesota roads from 80,000 pounds such oddly timed legislation.

Read the opinion piece in the Rochester Post-Bulletin.

Does the state need to change truck weight law?: Right move at right time

In efforts to bring Minnesota's transportation system more in line with our region's neighboring states, we have heard much dramatic talk about safety and wear on our roads and bridges. But as the debate evolves and facts replace feelings, the push for something closer to truck weight uniformity in the upper Midwest reveals a plan that would mean safer roads and more road and bridge revenue funded by those who use them.

Read Fred Corrigan's op ed piece in the Rochester Post-Bulletin

Pederson: Postcards touting transportation look fishy

Sen. John Pederson, R-St. Cloud, knows it's important to a lot of his constituents. But he wonders if all of the people whose names are listed on postcards recently delivered to him by Move MN, a transportation lobbying group, really filled out the information in an effort to sway his opinion on funding solutions.

Read more in the St. Cloud Times.

MnDOT details costs of Dayton transportation plan

Gov. Mark Dayton’s transportation proposal became clearer Monday afternoon as officials put price tags on individual projects and estimated the full list would cost $4.1 billion to $7.8 billion.

Read more and view the list of projects at Minnesota Public Radio.

Gov. Dayton, MnDOT release list of possible road and bridge projects

Gov. Mark Dayton says his transportation funding proposal would result in 600 road-and-bridge improvement projects across the state. Here's the list of possible projects that the governor and Minnesota Department of Transportation compiled.

Minn. road system big, complex

Minnesota lawmakers might soon vote to spend as much as $8 billion over the next decade on the state’s roads and bridges, a system that is massive and complex and controlled by hundreds of governmental bodies across the state.

Experts say most people, understandably, have not paid a lot of attention to the transportation system’s intricacies. … Even experts don’t know a lot of key details about the system, such as the quality of the state’s minor roads. Many local governments don’t track this in any compre-
hensive way, and MnDOT only knows how good its own roads are.

Read more in the Fargo Forum.

Transportation program to generate 15,000 jobs

A program aimed at tying transportation investments to business and job growth throughout Minnesota is expected to create or retain 15,000 jobs over the next three years, according to a new report.

Read more in Finance & Commerce.

Wide gap in plans to fix Minnesota's roads means bigger fight at Legislature

A wide gulf between how Republicans, Democrats and business groups want to tackle the state's multibillion-dollar backlog of road and bridge repairs all but guarantees that what's been billed as the biggest fight of the 2015 legislative session will live up to the hype.

Minnesota roads need money, but where should it come from?

After two years of mulling over the state of the state's transportation system, Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, urban and rural leaders alike agree there's a gap between how much revenue Minnesota raises and how much it needs to preserve and improve its highways, bridges and transit services over the coming decade.

Read more in the St. Paul Pioneer Press (subscription may be required).

These are the worst bridges in Minnesota

As the Minnesota legislature prepares to open its 2015 legislative session on Tuesday, lawmakers in both major parties agree that more needs to be done to repair the state’s aging transportation infrastructure. About 1,200 of Minnesota’s more than 20,000 bridges are classified as structurally deficient — they’re safe, but need to be monitored, maintained and ultimately replaced.

See a map of the worst bridges at the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Senator: New Highway-funding mechanism to come

Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) offered some insight on the future of highway funding at a meeting with the Western Arkansas Regional Intermodal Transportation Authority that also included Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.).

“Coming up between now and May, you’ll see a new funding mechanism that is going to change how we are funding our roads and highways,” Inhofe said, according to the Arkansas News. “This is not an announcement on my part, because I still maintain opposition to any new tax increases, however it’s more of a user fee than a tax increase.”

Source: Pit & Quarry

Transportation should be a topic on the campaign trail in Minnesota

Traffic congestion, crumbling roadway pavement and insufficient transit options have almost replaced the weather as Minnesotans’ most frequent complaints.

Read the editorial in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Legislature on roads, transit: "You can't even really call it a band-aid"

If you're not too pleased with Minnesota's road conditions these days, you can hustle over to the State Capitol Tuesday morning (10 a.m., Room 125) and sign a band-aid.

Read more in MinnPost.

NSSGA offers support for the Grow America Act

NSSGA has offered its support of the Grow America Act, a $302 billion, four-year surface transportation reauthorization bill U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Anthony Foxx unveiled April 29.

Read more in Pit & Quarry.

In Scott County, transportation sales tax proposal sets off intense debate

Scott County commissioners are under heavy fire from both directions as they begin to publicly ponder whether to impose a half-cent sales tax for transportation.

Read more in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Stuck in traffic? Blame it on the politicians

Most Minnesotans recognize that a modern and efficient transportation system is essential to keep the state competitive in a globalized economy. Yet key leaders in state and local government continue to be unwilling to put political risks aside to make the necessary investment. Read more in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Retro report: When a bridge fails

The New York Times published a video report about failing bridges and the lack of transportation funding on March 4. The story uses the I-35W bridge collapse as a starting point. View the Times video.