Owatonna- Wednesday morning, Republican leaders called for a Special Session to complete passage of the 2016 Bonding bill (House File 622). House Speaker Kurt Daudt (R-Crown), Majority Leader Joyce Peppin (R-Rogers), Representative Brian Daniels (R-Faribault), Representative John Petersburg (R-Waseca), Representative Nels Pierson (R-Rochester), Representative Duane Quam (R-Byron), and Representative Peggy Bennett (R-Albert Lea) joined local officials along U.S. Highway 14 in Owatonna.
Late Sunday, the Minnesota House passed the agreed-upon, compromise bonding bill with broad, bipartisan support on a vote of 91-39. The bill then travelled to the Senate, where a DFL Senator changed the bill to support a mechanism to increase funding for light rail, undoing the agreement. As a result of Metro Democrats’ insistence on costly, inefficient light rail through this last-minute political maneuver, the compromise bonding bill failed to pass out of the Senate.
“As we know, Highway 14 is a major transportation artery for Southern Minnesota,” said Rep. Peggy Bennett. “Instead of prioritizing critical projects like fixing this highway, Senate Democrats pushed for a highly controversial light rail train, killing our transportation bill in the final minutes of session. I hope we can use a special session to put the political games aside, and finish the work the Senate failed to complete last weekend.”
At one time, Highway 14 was the most dangerous strip of road in the state and very short term actions have made it slightly less dangerous. For four decades, Southern Minnesotans have been promised a four lane expansion on Highway 14. The compromise legislation, passed by the House Sunday, included $85 million to expand Highway 14 to four lanes in one segment, and acquire land to prepare for lane expansion in another segment. The 12-mile Owatonna to Dodge Center stretch would receive $45 million to expand to four lanes, and the 12-mile New Ulm to Nicollet stretch would receive $40 million for right of way acquisition.
In addition, the compromise bonding bill contained $727 million for roads and bridges, and $842 million overall for transportation related projects.
The DFL Senator who authored the amendment that altered the agreement later claimed “No light rail funding, no bonding bill. When will the House figure this out?” The Southwest Light Rail Transit project (SWLRT) costs $1.77 billion total. The state can pay up to $135 million for construction and is expected to pay a portion of the $28.7 million in annual operations costs. Advocates of SWLRT expect fares to cover 41 percent of operations, even though the two existing light rail lines are at 30 percent farebox recovery or lower. SWLRT is currently party to at least two lawsuits: the Lakes and Parks Alliance over routing through Kenilworth, and a Minnetonka apartment owner and residents over potential damages to park/trail areas. Proponents of the project claim SWLRT will have about 36,000 daily riders by the year 2040 (twenty years after it starts). For comparison, the stretch of highway that runs parallel to the planned route gets about 59,000 just in average daily cars traveling just that stretch right now, according to MnDOT.
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