Dear Neighbor,
Summer road construction is in full swing across the district. Our regular route to town now includes a detour as Aitkin County is replacing one of the many bridges over the Ripple River on Aitkin County State Aid Highway (CSAH) 12. Over in Crow Wing County work on MN Hwy 210 through Crosby and Ironton is in full swing.
In July MNDOT will be repairing 12 miles of concrete road surface on MN Hwy 210, east of the MN Hwy 6 junction at Deerwood all the way to 9th Ave West in Aitkin. In Crow Wing County the resurfacing project is substantially completed on CSAH 1 from MN Hwy 6 east to the county line.
For progress reports projects visit the Crow Wing County website. for state projects visit this link. This work was funded primarily by a combination of the state gas tax, license tab fees and a significant portion of the sales tax on auto and truck parts and repairs.
I continue to advocate for directing every penny of the sales tax on auto and truck repair and parts to our roads and bridges. After all, just like gasoline, tires, a battery, and an occasional oil change are necessary if you intend to use our public highways.
Another area needing attention, as more electric vehicles appear on our highways. While there is a small surcharge on licensing electric vehicles right now, they clearly are not paying their own way. Others are helping to foot the bill for the charging stations needed to support these vehicles.
There is general agreement that we need to move toward vehicles with lower emissions, however we need to do that in fair way. The costs of promoting these vehicles should not fall on those that will likely never be able to afford a new electric vehicle. That is one of many reasons why we should not be adopting the California auto emission standards today, as the governor is intent on.
It’s clear the auto industry is moving toward lower priced and more efficient electric vehicles. We need to allow that process to work without government trying to force feed zero-emission (electric) vehicles into everyone’s garage. The governor and MPCA needs a reality check. Many Minnesota citizens must still drive used vehicles and they don’t have a garage to house that vehicle in yet.
Sincerely,
Dale