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State Representative Sarah Anderson
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-5511
For more information contact: House GOP Communications 651-296-5520
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Improving Highways 494 and 169
To the Editor,
Area residents are all too familiar with the standstill on highway 494 through Plymouth. Six lanes shrink to four and the time spent waiting in traffic grows to what can feel like hours. Last week, I engaged area leaders including Senator Terri Bonoff, Representative Sandy Peterson, Mayor Kelli Slavik and Council Member Judi Johnson in discussions of how to improve highways 494 and 169.
Unfortunately, the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Metropolitan Council are only interested in adding a lane to 494 if it is a fee lane. This plan is neither fair nor cost-effective. A managed lane would double the price tag of the taxpayer-funded project, and it would force Plymouth residents to pay more for road improvements than anyone else along the 494 corridor.
The MnDOT/Met Council plan is the same for highway 169 — add a lane, but pay for it using fee revenue. If all improvements were done as planned by MnDOT, Plymouth would have fee lanes on highways 394, 169, and 494. The only major thoroughfare through town without a fee would be highway 55. Meanwhile, our neighbors to the north and south pay no fees for their road improvements. Just like the neighboring communities, all we want is to be able to pick our kids up from school, go to the doctor, and get to or from work without too much hassle.
Our next step is to share the concerns over the 494 and 169 road improvements with our county commissioners. I have already spoken with Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Johnson. I also had the good fortune to speak with Congressman Erik Paulsen this week on the matter. Once our local delegation is fully briefed, we’ll move on to the Met Council and MnDOT. When the time comes, I hope you will join me and area leaders to voice our concerns and resolve Plymouth residents’ traffic troubles.
Sincerely,
Sarah Anderson
State Representative - 43A
Plymouth and Medicine Lake
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