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Capitol View®
Tom Scheck

MnDOT details costs of Dayton transportation plan

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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.

Dayton wants to raise $6 billion through an increase in the gas tax to help pay for new road and bridge construction over the next ten years. The DFL governor released descriptions of hundreds of possible improvements last month that he said would only get done if the state Legislature approves the tax hike.

Republicans in control of the Minnesota House argue it’s unfair to link specific projects to a gas tax bump, which they oppose. They haven’t released a long-term plan for transportation.

Minnesota Department of Transportation planners said all of the road and bridge projects will get done if Dayton’s plan becomes law.

“There's no 100 percent guarantee but based on our professional experience in looking back ten years and all of the different variables we dealt with in the past, we're confident in this list,” said Mark Nelson, MnDOT's planning and data analysis manager.

On the low end, Dayton's list includes $40,000 for several pavement improvement projects across Minnesota to the big ticket $722 million renovation recommended for Interstate 94 between Minneapolis and St. Paul.

The estimated costs for a few specific projects also vary widely depending on how much work is done. For example, a bridge on Interstate 394 in Hennepin County could cost as little $2 million to repair or as much as $87 million for a full renovation.

MnDOT officials also said projects would have to be cut from their list if the Legislature doesn't approve the full $6 billion over the next ten years. But they also suggested that some of the road and bridge projects could be done more cheaply.

“We do shorter term fixes which really aren’t cost effective in the long-term," said Glenn Engstrom, director of the MnDOT Office of Materials and Road Research. “That’s what got us to where we are.”

Transportation is becoming a key issue this session as Dayton pushes for the Legislature to pass a transportation plan. He’s proposing a $10 billion package that, in addition to the gas tax hike, relies on raising the metro wide sales tax by a half cent to pay for transit projects.

Here’s the spreadsheet released by MnDOT: