Liebling, Norton Praise Plan to Enhance Highway 14

ST. PAUL, MN – Yesterday, Governor Mark Dayton and the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) announced ten highway construction projects slated to receive funding through the state’s new $300 million Corridors of Commerce program.

A key project in southeastern Minnesota selected out of over 400 proposals from throughout the state will expand a segment of Highway 14 to four lanes east of Owatonna. Construction is estimated to start in 2014, with costs projected to range from $16 million to $20 million.

State Representative Tina Liebling (DFL – Rochester) said the project is vital for economic growth in the region.

“I want to thank MnDOT and Governor Dayton for making Highway 14 a priority,” said Liebling. “Their announcement marks meaningful progress in fulfilling southeastern Minnesota’s transportation needs. We still have more work to do to improve our transportation system overall, but this is something we can all celebrate. It’s going to enhance the flow of commerce between regional trade centers and improve access to all the economic activity happening in Rochester.”

State Representative Kim Norton (DFL – Rochester) said the forthcoming enhancements to Highway 14 are a boon to Rochester’s Destination Medical Center (DMC) project. Norton was the chief author of the bill that made the historic public-private partnership possible.

“With the DMC project expected to create tens of thousands of good jobs over the next 20 years, expanding capacity on regional transportation corridors like Highway 14 is exactly the kind of step we need to take to grow southeastern Minnesota’s economy,” said Norton. “Thousands of Minnesotans employed by Mayo use that highway every day. With these enhancements, even more will be able to more safely use it in the coming years as the DMC project ramps up. It’s an investment that goes hand-in-hand with economic development in Rochester.”

Norton underscored the hard work of rural DFL legislators who supported the Corridors of Commerce legislation during the 2013 session.

“We’re all very pleased with this important progress, but when you take a look at the hundreds of funding proposals this program received, the sheer volume of requests around the state shows that we need to prioritize Minnesota’s transportation needs.”  

Enacted during the 2013 legislative session, the Corridors of Commerce program authorizes trunk highway bonding to be used for projects that are not already in the state’s four-year State Transportation Improvement Program. The legislation established two major goals for the program: to increase highway capacity on segments where bottlenecks occur and to improve the movement of freight and reduce barriers to commerce.

MnDOT staff evaluated eligible projects on selection criteria that included project readiness and deliverability, community support, projected return on investment, and safety impacts.

The following ten projects will receive funding through the program:
 

More information about the Corridors of Commerce program can be found at www.mndot.gov/corridorsofcommerce.