Mark Fischenich: Ask Us: New bucks not behind big bump in local road projects
Jul. 16—Q: I have a question regarding the $70 million Highway 169 makeover article in the June 21 Free Press. As the article states, approximately $156 million is planned to be spent by the Minnesota Department of Transportation in the Mankato area over the 2024 through 2027 timeframe. Is any of the recent federal infrastructure funding that was allocated to Minnesota figured into these MnDOT projects? Also, is any of the transportation funding/bonding that the Minnesota Legislature just passed figured into these Mankato-area MnDOT projects? Thank you.
A: That Free Press story outlined not only the $70 million redesign and reconstruction of Highway 169 in Mankato and North Mankato (including a couple of roundabouts) in 2027, it also mentioned plans for nearly $40 million in improvements to Highway 22 between Mankato and St. Peter starting in 2025, more than $23 million in fixes for the Veterans Memorial Bridge in 2026 and several other projects.
So should the federal government be the target of curses from detour-weary drivers in coming years? Or the recipient of gratitude offered by people enjoying the improvements to area highways?
"Yes and no," said MnDOT's Zachary Tess in response to the first question about the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill passed by Congress in 2021.
Officially known as "The Federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act," the bill perpetuated funding levels similar to what the federal government had provided in the past while also offering a big influx of new funding via discretionary grants, according to Tess, assistant district engineer for program delivery for MnDOT's Mankato-based District 7.
"The projects referenced in the Mankato area don't currently have discretionary grants on them (new funding) but still follow the traditional funding approach of our state highways which are 80-90% federally funded...," he said. "In short — yes in terms of base funding; no in terms of new money."
As for the second question, which wondered if the slate of local projects was a beneficiary of the big investment in transportation approved by the state in the recently completed legislative session, the answer is even more straightforward.
"No," Tess said. "That money gets distributed from a central source, which hasn't taken place yet."
But MnDOT officials will be taking that state legislation into account when planning projects in the future. Lawmakers and Gov. Tim Walz allocated $7.85 billion over two years to MnDOT, although not all of that goes for road construction. The Legislature also approved a bonding bill that included $200 million for state road construction in general, $166 million for specific projects and $145 million for the Corridors of Commerce program, which targets grants to highway projects that boost economic activity.
"We'll reassess over the next year how the additional dollars will affect us, specifically with the gas tax now being indexed to inflation," Tess said of the state funding.
The Corridors of Commerce program, by the way, has a yearlong lag between when money is allocated and when winners are selected out of numerous grant applications from across the state.
Grant winners from the 2022 pot of Corridors of Commerce money were just announced last week and didn't include any Mankato-area projects. Local drivers who occasionally drive on Highway 13 through Savage and Burnsville or on Highway 14 to Rochester will see some benefit from the grants, however. Grade-separated freeway-style interchanges are being added on both of those routes — $96 million for new interchanges along Highway 13 and $60 million for the replacement of the crash-prone at-grade intersection of Highway 14 and Olmsted County Road 44 on the western edge of Rochester.
Contact Ask Us at The Free Press, 418 S. Second St., Mankato, MN 56001. Call Mark Fischenich at 344-6321 or email your question to mfischenich@mankatofreepress.com; put Ask Us in the subject line.
