The Free Press, Mankato, MN

Local News

November 2, 2007

Feds release bridge funds

State now less likely to delay local projects

Mark Fischenich

Federal transportation officials released more than $123 million on Thursday for the reconstruction of the collapsed Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis, greatly reducing the prospect that funds will need to be diverted from the Highway 14 expansion and other planned road projects in south-central Minnesota.

The release of the federal funds, announced by Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Norm Coleman, comes after the previous release of $55 million by the Federal Department of Transportation shortly after the August collapse of the bridge.

“This is great news for Minnesota,” Coleman said.

That’s particularly true for south-central Minnesota, which was in line to take the biggest hit of any region in the state under a tentative plan by the Minnesota Department of Transportation to postpone planned construction projects to free up money for the bridge reconstruction — which began this week.

Supporters of the Highway 14 expansion were angry that $4.8 million might be diverted from right-of-way acquisition between Waseca and Owatonna next year in preparation for the expansion of the road to four lanes.

Also on the list for possible postponement were $3.6 million in other projects in the Mankato-based District 7 of MnDOT.

“I would hope that it puts those concerns to rest,” Coleman said of the release of the $123 million in federal funds. “... The bottom line is the construction of the bridge shouldn’t have been against the construction of something else.”

State Transportation Commissioner Carol Molnau and others in the administration of Gov. Tim Pawlenty asked a little-known panel of eight senior lawmakers — the Transportation Contingent Appropriations Group — to authorize spending $195 million in state funds for the bridge reconstruction pending the arrival of federal funds.

The committee balked, saying in part that authorization of that level of spending should come from the entire Legislature. The Pawlenty administration said the delay of other projects would probably be necessary if the group didn’t provide the authorization, and the group ultimately agreed to just $60 million — an amount lawmakers said would last until the Legislature is in session in February.

Pawlenty spokesman Alex Carey said in a written statement Thursday that the legislative panel will still need to authorize the spending of the federal funds to keep Highway 14 and other projects on track. But Carey indicated there was no reason for the panel to withhold the authorization.

“It would be odd for the Legislature to prevent us from spending money we’ve already received from the federal government,” Carey stated. “But we need their approval to ensure that no projects are delayed because of bridge construction.”

State Rep. Terry Morrow, DFL-St. Peter, also expects the panel to authorize the spending of the federal bridge money. The previous concern, that a small group of lawmakers rather than the entire Legislature was being asked to authorize spending of millions of state tax dollars, is no longer at issue when the request is to authorize use of federal funds specifically provided for the bridge.

“I don’t see any concern with that,” said Morrow, who’s not on the Transportation Contingent Appropriations Group but is a member of the House Transportation Finance Committee. “So this probably takes care of the (short-term funding) issue.”

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