Transportation committee considers governor’s budget proposals

Duluth’s Blatnik Bridge funding would go up, and state funding for mass transit would go down.

Those are two of the big-ticket items that Gov. Tim Walz’s administration is recommending in state transportation funding for the next biennium.

As presented to the House Transportation Finance and Policy Committee on Monday, the governor proposes $1.3 billion in increased spending from the Trunk Highway Fund in the next biennium, a significant portion of it intended to match federal funding.

“While the General Fund is facing challenges, the health of the Trunk Highway Fund is in good condition at this time,” said Transportation Commissioner Nancy Daubenberger.

She said the governor recommends that the largest increases in outlays from the Trunk Highway Fund in the next biennium go toward the Blatnik Bridge that spans the St. Louis River from Duluth to Superior, Wis. ($650 million) and an increase in the appropriation for state road construction ($472.1 million). Both would be designed to largely match federal funding for the same purposes, the federal number for state road construction coming in at $454.1 million.

Other recommended uses for the Trunk Highway Fund from the governor include $55 million in operating adjustments for the Department of Transportation, $6.4 million for facilities modernization, and $6 million for corridor planning.

The governor also recommends that $97 million from the Trunk Highway Fund go toward a new metro headquarters building for the State Patrol. That received some pushback from Rep. Bjorn Olson (R-Fairmont).

“I always get a little bit cautious of this concept whenever anyone brings up the concept of building something with Trunk Highway Fund dollars that isn’t a highway,” Olson said.

On the DFL representatives’ side of the table, the biggest concern with the governor’s requests seemed to be the $64.9 million that would be eliminated from the Metro Transit system’s operating appropriation in the next biennium.

Metropolitan Council Chair Charlie Zelle said that other revenue sources would be relied upon for transit operations and that service levels would not be impacted, but Rep. Larry Kraft (DFL-St. Louis Park) and Rep. Brad Tabke (DFL-Shakopee) both expressed concern. Zelle responded that longer-term projects, such as building out the system and adding new transit lines, might be affected.