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State Representative Joe Atkins
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4192
For more information contact: Matt Swenson 651-297-8406
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ATKINS RELEASES WAKOTA BRIDGE DELAY PRELIMINARY FINDINGS, SEEKS MNDOT RESPONSE
ST. PAUL – The Wakota Bridge was supposed to be open for traffic tomorrow. But there will be no ribbon cutting, no lengthy speeches full of back-patting compliments, and certainly no commuters driving across the eastbound span. In fact, there is no eastbound span. Construction on that portion of the bridge hasn't even been started.
"MnDOT's mismanagement of this critical project has held southeast metro commuters hostage for far too long," said State Representative Joe Atkins. "Commuters have been waiting for over five years already, and now MnDOT is estimating the project could take another five years to complete."
After years of delays, project-stopping design flaws, contract disputes, and other hold-ups, a House committee chaired by Rep. Atkins performed a five-month investigation of the project to see what went wrong. Atkins' House Commerce and Labor Committee is issuing a preliminary report today critical of MnDOT's management of the project and the design firm it hired.
"This is not a witch hunt. From the beginning our objective has been to figure out what happened here, to make certain these blunders are corrected, and make recommendations for how such massive, unnecessary mistakes can be avoided in the future – not only on the Wakota Bridge project, but on other transportation projects as well," said Atkins.
In a letter to MnDOT Commissioner Carol Molnau, Atkins sought the department's input on his committee's preliminary findings before a final report from the Commerce and Labor Committee is assembled. Specifically, Atkins asked Molnau the following questions:
1. Do you agree or disagree with the findings in the preliminary report? If you disagree, please provide an explanation.
2. If there are other error(s) that delayed the completion of the Wakota Bridge project, please identify those error(s) and your basis for believing those error(s) took place. Describe the delay(s) caused by those errors.
3. Identify and describe the steps MnDOT has taken, if any, to address errors on the Wakota Bridge project and prevent further delays on said project as well as other MnDOT projects.
4. If the cost of completing the Wakota Bridge comes in higher than the original bid, does MnDOT anticipate collecting these additional costs from someone other than taxpayers? If so, from whom, to what degree, when, in what manner, and on what basis?
5. Please provide the estimated completion date of the remaining half of the Wakota Bridge. Since the bridge itself is already half done, it seems reasonable to expect completion of the remaining half no later than 2009. If that is not the case, please explain the further delay. Furthermore, if that is not the case, please state the basis for treating commuters and businesses in the southeast metro area differently than the commuters and businesses served by the I35W Bridge, which is obviously a far more expensive and complex project to be completed in one year.
Atkins is seeking a response to these questions from Molnau by December 10, 2007, with another hearing of the House Commerce and Labor Committee to follow.
"We're not going to let this simply fade away," said Atkins. "MnDOT has a responsibility to the taxpaying commuters and businesses of the southeast metro. For the sake of our local economies, and the health and welfare of its citizens and employers, we're going to make sure MnDOT delivers this bridge."
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