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State Representative Paul Anderson
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4317
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GUEST COLUMN
Roundabouts, bond sales, county fairs and more
By Rep. Paul Anderson
The Minnesota Dept. of Transportation will try using European-style road construction in an effort to make a crash-prone intersection safer. The area to get this new style of intersection is Highway 5 in Lino Lakes, and the new construction is called a “roundabout.” Instead of having roads come together at 90-degree angles with stop and yield signs, a one-lane circular roadway will be constructed, and drivers will navigate around the roundabout until they get to the road they want. Construction on the project, estimated to cost around $1.2 million, began last month and is scheduled for completion by November.
Minnesota conducted the largest bond sale in its history recently. In the Aug. 3 sale, $865 million worth of bonds was sold – at the lowest interest rates in recent history. The sale was broken down into three components, with General Obligation (GO) and truck highway bonds being the largest two. The GO bonds that will be used to finance construction projects included in the bonding bill passed last session will carry an interest rate of 3.16 percent. The highway bonds for road and bridge projects came in a bit lower, at 3.12 percent. The third group, a relatively small $5 million for a farm loan program administered by the Rural Finance Authority, came in at 1.86 percent.
The major bond rating agencies still think highly of Minnesota, as evidenced by these low rates. Minnesota Management and Budget Commissioner Tom Hanson was quoted in a Politics in Minnesota newsletter as saying, “The bond markets confirmed those ratings and show they recognize Minnesota’s sound economic fundamentals.”
Two ice rinks in Minnesota made a “Top 100” list of pork projects funded by the recent federal stimulus bill. The list was released recently by Senators John McCain and Tom Coburn, of Arizona and Oklahoma, respectively. The Sports Center in Woodbury received a half-million dollars in grant money to help pay for a $2.3 million project to upgrade its geo-thermal exchange heating system. And the ice arena in Eagan got more than $1.3 million for a new heat pump, which covered about one-third of the project cost.
Other ideas to receive funding from this $787 billion federal package, according to the web site Hot Dish Politics, include a project that gave iPods to high school students and cell phones to smokers.
With all the talk about cell phones and texting being dangerous practices for drivers, the state Senate in Massachusetts is looking at the other end of driving spectrum and considering a bill that would require drivers over the age of 75 to prove they can still drive safely. Provisions of the bill, according to the magazine STATE LEGISLATURES, would have those between the ages of 75 and 80 required to take cognitive and physical screenings from their doctors. Drivers past the age of 80 would be tested every three years.
Fair season is upon us. The Stearns County event was a success, with both the Pope and Kandiyohi fairs coming up. Two parades last weekend proved to be opposites in terms of weather. It was a very warm evening in Albany as we walked their parade, while the next day in Greenwald rain fell steadily during nearly the entire parade. We got wet during both!
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Rep. Anderson encourages constituents to contact his office with input regarding any state legislative issue. He can be reached on the web at www.house.mn/13A and via email at rep.paul.anderson@house.mn. To contact Anderson by phone, call (651) 296-4317. Mail can be sent to Rep. Paul Anderson, 239 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, Minnesota 55155.
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