A number of dignitaries were on hand Jan. 17 for the groundbreaking ceremonies of Minnesota's first light rail transit line.

Among those participating in the event were Gov. Jesse Ventura; Commissioner Elwyn Tinklenberg; Minnesota U.S. Rep. Martin Sabo; Joel Ettinger, Region 5 Federal Transit Administration; Metropolitan Council Chair Ted Mondale; Peter McLaughlin, Hennepin County commissioner; Minneapolis Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton; and former Metro Transit General Manager Arthur Leahy.

The 11.6-mile line will run along the Hiawatha Avenue corridor from downtown Minneapolis to the Mall of America, serving 17 stations. A test track near Franklin Avenue will be operational by October 2002, with full service of the line expected by 2004.

For more information, check out the Hiawatha Light Rail Transit Web site.

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Welcome to Mn/DOT Newsline, your new Web-based employee newsletter.

Mn/DOT Newsline replaces Mn/DOT NEWS and DOT Connection as your official source of transportation news. This new format is intended to help employees to "speak with one voice" about the department and its initiatives by providing timely information about key transportation issues.

In addition, Mn/DOT Newsline opens up a world of information to its readers by offering links to Web sites within and outside of Mn/DOT. These links supplement Mn/DOT Newsline’s shorter articles to provide in-depth coverage on topics you want to know more about.

Look for Mn/DOT Newsline every Wednesday. This week’s issue includes articles about Governor’s proposed budget for transportation, Mn/CARS (the new travel and road condition information system) and the Transportation Conference. Marriage, birth, retirement and funeral announcements—previously printed in DOT Connection—will be available by clicking on the "Employee information" button on Mn/DOT Newsline’s main screen. Employee information will be updated as needed.

Other navigation buttons allow readers to view past issues of Mn/DOT Newsline, submit news items and provide feedback to the editorial staff.

Although Mn/DOT Newsline breaks with the past in how information is delivered to employees, it contains key characteristics of its predecessors: the meatiness of the monthly Mn/DOT News and the timeliness of the weekly DOT Connection.

Many people have contributed to delivering Mn/DOT Newsline to your desktop. Jed Becher and Kay Korsgaard provided strong technical support and advice; Kai-Jurgen Huot-Link created an attractive design that’s easy to navigate through; and Kent Barnard, Chris Joyce, Lucy Kender, Mary Meinert, and Craig Wilkins have contributed their reporting and writing expertise.

We look forward to delivering the news to you each week and hope to hear from you.

Chris Joyce, editor

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This week the department will complete the first round of its budget presentations to the Legislature, according to Kevin Gray, chief financial officer. New this session is Mn/DOT’s request for capital funding—normally sought in even-numbered years.

In its regular biennial funding request to the Legislature, Mn/DOT will seek an overall operating budget of $4.0 billion for fiscal years 2002 and 2003, compared with $3.6 billion for the current biennium, Gray said.

"We went through extensive internal review of our programs and activities to meet the Governor’s challenge to make government more lean and efficient," Gray said. That required shifting funding from lower priorities and activities to Mn/DOT’s higher priorities, such as Moving Minnesota and major infrastructure and operations investments, he said.

These investments include statewide pavement striping, electrical maintenance of traffic lights and signal systems, fleet and scientific equipment, truck station additions and other maintenance buildings (including cold storage buildings, rest areas, etc.) and information technology.

At the Governor’s direction, Mn/DOT also submitted a capital budget request that includes funding a new Mankato District headquarters ($12.9 million) and a new Central Maintenance Operations complex ($14.3 million) to be located in Arden Hills. The department will also seek $30 million for local (e.g., city and county) bridges.

In addition, the department is requesting $115 million to fund the Northstar rail project, one of the Advantages for Transit projects on the Moving Minnesota priority list. This request also includes a multi-modal connection to the Hiawatha Avenue light rail transit line in Minneapolis.

Normally, capital requests such as these are addressed in the even-numbered years, Gray said. However, as part of his government reform initiative, Gov. Ventura is proposing that all capital budget requests be moved to the odd-number years. It is possible that the Legislature will not act on capital budgets this session, he added.

If you have questions about Mn/DOT’s budget proposal, contact Gray, your office director or district engineer. You can also learn more about Minnesota state budgets in general by clicking onto the Governor’s Web site. For the status of bills and committee schedules, link to the Legislature’s Web site.

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Along with previews and ads for engagement rings, moviegoers in places such as Grand Forks, Willmar, Hutchinson, Rochester and Mankato will see theater ads promoting the need to drive safely when snowplows are operating.

The new theater ads are part of Mn/DOT’s winter work zone safety campaign under way statewide. The "Stay Back Stay Alive" campaign urges drivers to share responsibility for safe snowplow operations with Mn/DOT employees. The radio campaign includes ad placements on the Minnesota News Network that reaches a total of 46 media markets.

The campaign primarily uses radio ads supplemented by the theater and cable TV placements. In addition, concentrated media buys for more than 3,800 radio spots enabled Mn/DOT to air more than 4,700 10- or 30-second free public service announcements, noted Barb Epstein, a media buyer with Marketing Midwest, Inc., which handles media placements for the campaign.

The campaign will have extra reach, Epstein says, from audio and videotapes being distributed by the Minnesota Broadcasters’ Association for use by its member stations.

The five PSAs were written and produced by Mike Mauren, Traffic Management Center, Metro, and Mary Teas, formerly with Communications and Public Relations now with the Department of Employee Relations.

For more information, contact Mary Meinert, work zone safety coordinator, 651-297-5868.

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If you were unable to attend this year’s Transportation Conference and want to see a bit of what you missed contact the Mn/DOT library. Videotapes of the keynote speakers and copies of their material are available for checkout. In addition, you can find links to the keynote speakers’ Web sites on the Transportation Conference Web site.

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The Jan. 29 storm that left much of Minnesota covered with ice and slush also triggered several e-mail letters of appreciation from the public, including one from commuter Steve Commaford:

Congratulations. DOT has done a superb job cleaning up our highways following the recent ice storm and snowfall. I drive 169 from Champlin to 394 and I was amazed at how quickly the highways were restored to excellent condition. Again my kudos on a great job. It would be great if you could get this memo of thanks to all those snowplow / sander drivers who accomplished this job.

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Travelers in Minnesota now have access to up-to-the-minute road conditions reported directly from the front lines. Mn/CARS, or Minnesota Condition Acquisition and Reporting System, is a new Office of Maintenance program that reports road conditions, weather and incidents throughout the state. Information collected from maintenance field personnel throughout the state, including snow plow operators, is combined with R/WIS (Roadway Weather Information System) data to produce the road and weather conditions reports available on the Internet. R/WIS gathers data from sensors located at weather stations around Minnesota.

"Our office has been working on this system for a long time and we are pleased that it is now up and running. We will continue to work on improvements to provide accurate and timely motorist information," said Jan Ekern, partnerships coordinator.

When fully deployed in Spring 2001, MnCARS will provide motorists information about weather and weather-related road conditions, construction projects, restrictions and road closures, congestion, accidents and special events that could cause traffic problems. The Web site currently features a map with major roadways marked in each transportation district. Motorists can click on roadways to receive text information about conditions along their intended route. Users can access the site from Mn/DOT‘s home page by clicking on the road condition icon in the upper right hand corner then selecting TripUSA.

Three other states, Washington, Iowa and Missouri currently use the system. As additional states are brought into the system, the CARS software developed by Castle Rock Consultants will provide nationwide consistency in maps, icons and terminology.

For more information, contact Kent Barnard, Communications and Public Relations, 651-215-0019.

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Work to improve the I-35W/Highway 62 Crosstown commons area in Minneapolis will begin this August, notes Todd Kramasz, metro public affairs.

This five-mile stretch carries approximately 250,000 vehicles per day and has an accident rate nearly three times that of the rest of the metro interstate system. When work is complete, I-35W and Highway 62 will no longer share a roadway, making travel through the commons area safer and eliminating bottlenecks. Estimated cost of the project is more than $132.3 million.

Plans for the commons area are part of a much larger project to improve I-35W from Lakeville to University Avenue in Minneapolis.

Mn/DOT will step-up public outreach efforts about the project with informational open houses for businesses and the general public in February. The Crosstown project Web site provides maps and other information about the project.

For more information, contact Todd Kramasz, metro public affairs, 651-582-1465.

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Darryl Anderson, Environmental Services, was appointed as the state bicycle coordinator. He succeeds Michael Jackson who resigned to take a similar position with the Maryland DOT.

In his new position, Anderson will direct Mn/DOT’s efforts to further integrate bicycling into the state’s transportation system.

Anderson also serves as the department’s liaison with sustainable transportation research at the University of Minnesota. He may be reached at 651-297-2136.

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Gov. Jesse Ventura appointed Adeel Lari, director, Office of Research Services, to the state commission that will redraw Minnesota’s federal and state legislative boundaries after data from the 2000 census becomes available.

Lari, who also chairs the Council on Asian Pacific Americans, will serve on the 11-member commission until its work is completed.

"We need to make sure that we should consider the electability of the people of different racial and ethnic backgrounds," Lari told the Asian American Press. "As a person of color, I’m very sensitive to these issues. I want to ensure that the redistricting plan considers all Minnesotans fairly and equally."

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Mn/DOT honored U.S. Rep. Martin Sabo for his many years of support for transportation programs at a luncheon on Jan. 26 in St. Paul.

Sabo, who represents Minnesota’s Fifth Congressional District, chairs the House Budget Committee. He has provided key support for investments in transportation technology, traveler options, easing highway traffic congestion and reducing airport noise. Projects he helped to fund include:

• Light rail transit in southwest Minneapolis, Richfield and Bloomington;
• A high-speed rail corridor between the Twin Cities and LaCrescent, Minn.;
• The Northstar corridor commuter rail project in the Twin Cities and suburbs; and
• Intelligent transportations systems technology through the Minnesota Guidestar program.

"Congressman Sabo has kept Minnesota in the forefront of transportation technology, research and development by his continued attention to transportation as an essential element in all our lives," said Commissioner Elwyn Tinklenberg. "It is our pleasure to recognize and thank the congressman for his ongoing efforts."

"Without Congressman Sabo’s support, ITS would not be the leader in transportation research that it is today, " added Bob Johns, director, University of Minnesota’s Center for Transportation Studies.

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The Office of Communications and Public Relations will launch the agency’s 2001 Internal Communications Plan Feb. 13. The plan, which focuses on Mn/DOT pride, seeks to equip all Mn/DOT employees with the right information to confidently represent Mn/DOT within their circles of friends and relatives.

"I want all Mn/DOT staff to know how important it is that they have the most up-to-date information about Mn/DOT," said Commissioner Elwyn Tinklenberg. "With a foundation of 5,500 valuable employees, we can’t help but be successful in achieving our goals."

For those attending the Transportation Conference Feb. 13-14, you will see first-hand some of the plan’s tactics being implemented. The opening video for the conference, available for checkout from the Mn/DOT library, shows Mn/DOT pride with a personal touch. A concurrent session, "Ambassadors wanted: discovering the everyday leader in all of us," demonstrates how all of us can be leaders and offers basic communications tips to use as a "backyard" ambassador. Finally, the premiere edition of this new online publication will be available for viewing at the OCPR exhibit.

Other objectives of the Internal Communications Plan include: Commissioner visits to districts and offices; a Question of the Week feature on the Web, which offers you the chance to ask a question about Mn/DOT; and quarterly updates on the progress of the department’s Moving Minnesota initiative.

For more information contact Lucy Kender, director of Internal Communications, 651-297-7961.

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What's on Your Mind?

Not only is our new Question of the Week Web site receiving questions about transportation in Minnesota, we’re also getting questions about our answers. Check out the site yourself, and while you're there, browse through previous questions to see if you have any of your own...on the same subjects or on something new.

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