CCP 03-20-2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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. . . . Mn/DOT, and the Legislature, should note that the current funding strategy in the TSP based on the constrained budget is imposing an increased higher cost to all participants in the programming process: o Project advocates are being forced to spend more time and money organizing and advocating for their specific needs as more and more needs are unfunded and competition heats up each year in the 'earmarking' process. o Failure to adequately fund the State's transportation investment needs leaves local officials, citizens and business owners uncertain as to how best to 'make do' and make interim investments without knowing what the ultimate system will look like and when, o Failure to adequately expand the state system is shifting cost, safety and congestion problems onto county and city road systems. · Completion of IRC Corridor Management Plans has been a good step. It is now clear where problems exist and will exist in the future. It is critical that additional steps be taken in key corridors and problem locations to fund and conduct Scoping and Tier I EIS studies to clarify and reach consensus on solutions (p 78). Mn/DOT should provide additional resources to complete these studies so that local and private business decisions can be made in a timely and efficient manner. This is essential to enable cities and counties to plan and build the necessary arterial and local street infrastructure needed to support principal arterial operations. . Allocation of available funds on a statewide basis should be revisited in context of Mn/DOTs recent analysis that showed that a $23.9 Billion funding gap exists in considering needs to meet performance standards. Of this amount, $20.6 Billion is needed in the Metro District. According to that analysis, comparing available versus needed funds shows that 23.7% of Metro needs would be met and 73.0% of Greater Minnesota needs would be satisfied. We suggest that allocations be considered on an equal share of needs basis. On that basis, 38.1 % of statewide needs would be met and forecasted funds for the Metro area would increase from $6.4 to $10.3 Billion with a corresponding shift from Greater Minnesota. In closing, we again acknowledge that the draft TSP represents a constrained effort compared to actual needs for the State of Minnesota. We will continue our dialog with our legislative delegation and the Governor to encourage them to adopt a significant increase in transportation funding, Until that occurs, we would appreciate your consideration of these recommendations. Please call me if you have any questions. Please also let me know if you have a response to our comments that we should share with our member city officials. 5