It's time to pay the road bill

The 35W-Crosstown construction project is facing yet another delay, this time because the state’s controversial funding plan would have contractors fronting as much as $90 million in construction funds during the project. The Star Tribune’s editorial board notes that this scheme is indicative of a much larger problem – MnDOT and the state are simply too short on cash to be pursuing adequate transportation construction. With no gas tax increase since 1988, despite growing population, traffic, and inflation, MnDOT simply cannot keep up with growing travel needs.

Instead of asking contractors to essentially loan construction money to the state, what about the HOT lane alternative, currently employed in the MnPass system on I-394. While the Citizens League published information from a recent study by the Humphrey Institute, noting that the toll lane does help improve traffic flow, the Star Tribune explained in a January 20^th article that “the experimental project…is not covering its costs…[and] at the current rate of collection, tolls won't begin to cover operations for more than a decade,” much less new road construction.

Since the credit card is maxed out and private businesses have no desire to bail out MnDOT, it’s probably time for the taxpayer to resume responsibility for their roads.

JFF