ST. PAUL, MN—Rep. Paul Torkelson, R-Hanska, Chair of the House Transportation Finance Committee, issued the following statement regarding today's Corridors of Commerce announcement. All four of the projects totaling $469 million are located within 50 miles of the Metro area. 172 projects were eligible for consideration as part of the Corridors of Commerce program.
"We have critical corridors like Highway 23 in Western Minnesota, Highway 14 in Southern Minnesota, and countless others in desperate need of upgrades and repairs that are being completely ignored by this Metro-centric project list. It's astonishing that MnDOT would select four projects with massive price tags all within 50 miles of Minneapolis and Saint Paul—it's clear that changes are needed to ensure a more balanced approach for the Corridors of Commerce program moving forward."
Torkelson added that he has concerns over how MnDOT defines the Metro area for purposes of project selection.
“MnDOT’s decision to use the Metro Transit definition of the Metro area is arbitrary and likely contributed to the lack of geographic balance in this project list,” Torkelson concluded.