Transportation committee finalizes $350 million list of potential bonding projects

Lawmakers in the House Transportation Policy and Finance Committee on Wednesday referred nearly 40 proposed road, bridge and transit projects totaling more than $350 million to the bonding committee for potential inclusion in a capital investment bill.

It is an indication, perhaps, of the state’s growing list of transportation needs as vastly differing House and Senate transportation funding bills passed last year remain in a conference committee that has met once this session.

Rep. Tim Kelly

The 39 proposed projects, totaling roughly $358.4 million in bonding and highway funding requests, were put forward in bills by more than two-dozen Republicans and DFLers, both rural and urban. The proposals range from small asks like $700,000 to expand a Highway 11 overpass in tiny Ranier in Koochiching County, to $85 million for the reconstruction of the congested Interstates 35W and 494 interchange in Bloomington.

Rep. Tim Kelly (R-Red Wing), chair of the transportation committee, said no new omnibus transportation bill is on the way this session, but again expressed confidence in reaching agreement on a long-term funding plan for Minnesota’s roads, bridges and — if DFLers get their way — transit.

“I am looking forward to our conference committee,” Kelly said. “And, I am looking forward to putting together that comprehensive transportation bill you are all so passionate about.”

The Republican-backed House plan passed last year would raise an additional estimated $7 billion for roads and bridges over the next decade, in part by redirecting motor vehicle-related tax revenue away from the state’s General Fund, identifying efficiencies in the Department of Transportation budget, and utilizing some of the state’s projected $900 million budget surplus.

In contrast, the DFL-backed package the Senate passed last spring proposes to raise roughly $11 billion for roads, bridges and transit by introducing a new gas tax and expanding a metro area transit-dedicated sales tax from one-quarter to three-quarters of a cent.